


All Alone Without His Lady: Chat Blanc Week 2021

by TheBrcklayer



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Akumatized Main Character(s), All sides of the love square really, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Chat Noir Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Lady Noir, Dark, Episode Fix-it: s03 Chat Blanc, Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, F/M, Full of Angst, Have I mentioned that lately?, Heavy Angst, Let these kids be kids!, Mariblanc, Marichat, Missblanc, Post-Apocalypse, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Thief AU, adrienette - Freeform, for one chapter anyways, ladrien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28176543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrcklayer/pseuds/TheBrcklayer
Summary: "Little Kitty on the Roof, all alone without his Lady..."-----Stories of misery, longing, and after the end. Chat Blanc can take many forms, and end many different ways but all involve a suit of white. 8 days, 8 stories.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 25
Kudos: 57





	1. Day 1: The Beret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't own nor make money off of Ladybug.

_ “Oh, Adrien Agreste! What a surprise! I brought you a gift from... your fan club in Brazil! There's _

_ a postal strike over there but they really wanted it to arrive today for Saint Athanasius Day.” _

_ Adrien smiled awkwardly, if not warmly at her. “That's my... fifth name.” _

_ Ladybug was unusually awkward around him, he noticed. Maybe even… scared? But that couldn’t be, right? She wasn’t scared of anything! “Wow, they must be serious fans to know that about you! Well, happy Fifth Name's Day!” _

_ And with a swing, she was gone... _

He replayed the conversation over and over in his mind. It was so  _ odd  _ really. Why would Ladybug bring it just for him? She was nice, sure, but she didn’t know him  _ that  _ well! The whole thing smelled wrong, it stank. ...And not the kind of stink from Plagg’s smelly cambertert. 

“...Hey kid, you gonna stop staring at the sky or are you going to get moving?” Plagg groaned from inside his shirt pocket. He snapped his little paw. “...hey kid, is your hearing busted? Is your brain finally broken?”

“Ladybug was just so  _ odd  _ back then right?” Adrien questioned. Plagg groaned.

“...oh don’t tell me, you’re still hung up on the fact that she visited your house?” he grumbled. “It’s been a week, kid!”

“She seemed almost  _ scared  _ of me Plagg!” Adrien looked down at the little cat god, his eyes wide with worry. “Why? Ladybug isn’t scared of anything, not even Hawk Moth!”

“You’re reading too much into it kid,” Plagg remarked. “Now come on, beat your feet! Your babysitter’s waiting on you, and it’s a hot day!”   
  
“So you do care.” Adrien smiled.

“No, I just don’t want to have to deal with him getting akumatized over getting too hot,” Plagg bemoaned. “Plus, there’s a nice slice of cambertert with my name on it back home!”

Adrien chuckled. “Never change…”

\-----

School the past few days had been weird, to say nothing of his life behind the mask!   
  
_ “Little kitty on a roof, all alone without his lady…” he hummed, sitting atop his usual perch only from behind him to hear the familiar zip of his partner’s yo-yo. “Hey Bugaboo. So what was that sudden call for?” _

_ “I did it.” she said vaguely, with a nervous look in her eyes. The same from before, actually. However, despite this she leaned her head on his shoulder. Cat’s eyes widened, she rarely did anything like that!  _

_ Smiling, he said: “I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm perfectly fine with it.” _

Like, what was up with that? She was usually so aloof with him, all business and no pleasure! And  _ what  _ was with the fear in her eyes? He had a feeling, it was something he’d only had a few times before but each and every time he’d had it something was deeply wrong. The last time… it had been little over a decade ago. Right before his mother disappeared and everything changed.

And then there was Marinette.

She’d ditched all of the white she usually wore and apparently replaced it with other colors. She still looked nice as always, but it was  _ weird _ . She seemed… evasive almost, when questioned.  _ “Oh, it’s… you know, I just wanted to try something new, that’s all! Haha!” _

Two of the three major girls in his life were hurting, he knew it. And yet he didn’t have a clue as to  _ why! “Some superhero I am, right?” _

He’d have to keep an eye on both, Cat’s promise! 

Oh crap! He had to get inside, before the bell rang!

Classes seemed to take an eternity that day, as he could barely focus on anything. Not when he knew something was wrong. Even Kagami noticed, actually. During their weekly fencing match, he’d been pretty sluggish and she called him out on it.

“Are you alright?” Kagami asked, lifting her mask. “Is something the matter?”

“Yeah, it’s… well, it’s Marinette okay?” Adrien admitted. “Is it just me, or does something seem… wrong with her?”

“Yes, now that you mention it…” Kagami mused. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

“Of course I care, she’s one of my friends!” Adrien replied, though why Kagami was giving him a sad smile he wasn’t sure. “It’s weird really. She seems… evasive, I guess? Like, when she saw me this morning, she barely met my eyes. Mumbled something about my beret, I think. I dunno, I could barely hear a word.”

“The beret you got from your Brazilian fan club, the one Ladybug hand delivered?” Kagami drawled. “That one?”

“Yeah, that one,” Adrien replied. He… may or may not have gushed about it to her all week long. Suddenly, it hit him. “...you’re not jealous are you?”

“I admit, I am,” Kagami sighed. “But I will be the better woman, and not get too worked up over it. Anger leads to akumatizations, and I am pretty sure both Ladybug and Cat Noir would not be pleased to be facing me for a third time!”

_ “More than you know, ‘Gami…”  _ Adrien thought to himself. 

“Marinette’s just a friend,” he told her, kissing her on the cheek. Kagami went beet red, unused to such public displays of affection. “You’re my girlfriend, not her.”

“Keep on remembering that,” Kagami almost smirked before that triumphant look faded, replaced by a concerned one. “But you’re quite right, something definitely seems very wrong with Mari.”   
  
“Mari?” Adrien questioned.   
  
“...we drink coffee together sometimes after school,” Kagami replied. “We’re very good friends. We talk about you mostly.”

“Me?” he almost squeaked. Were… were they teaming up on him?

“Yes, you,” Kagami replied back to smirking, taking a sip from her water bottle. “I’ll keep an eye on Marinette, just for you. I do worry about her at times, she seems so overworked these days. There just seems to be a lot on her mind, I’m worried she might… crack from the pressure. That’s what bothers me, she’s had this weight on her shoulders the past… week, I’d say?”

This past week? That had been the same time Ladybug had been acting odd as well! 

“The worst part is, she refuses to tell me what’s going on,” Kagami admitted worriedly. “I should probably interrogate Luka, he might know. Or he might not. It never hurts to check.”

“Luka?” Adrien questioned, perhaps stupidly.

“Yes, they’re dating now, don’t you know?”   
  
“...no, I didn’t actually,” Adrien admitted, feeling this odd pang in his chest and why was Kagami smiling sadly at him again? “...when did this happen?” 

“Since Miracle Queen.”   
  
“...oh.”

Now Adrien didn’t know  _ why  _ exactly but he found himself checking on that beret again. Running his fingers over it, he suddenly found a small embroidered signature on the inside. He knew that signature by heart.

“...oh,” he said again, numbly. “Oh my god…”

“Adrien…” Plagg warned, sounding defeated. “Okay Adrien, this whole thing smells like rotten cheese. You know you aren't supposed to know each other's secret identities!”

“She doesn’t have to know I know!” Adrien refuted.

“Adrien! Putting a smelly piece of cheese in a box doesn't stop it from smelling!” Plagg warned. In his gut, he suddenly had a  _ very  _ bad feeling.  _ “...oh Tikki, I hope you can bless both of these dumb kids with a little good luck, because I have a feeling they’ll both be needing it!” _

\-----

Adrien really didn’t get a lot of time to adjust to his new reality before he was thrown into the deep end again. 

Sandboy was back that night. He could hear the screams echo up from all over Paris. Groaning to himself as he felt Plagg’s dark energy wash over him, he jumped out from his window and into the fray!  _ “Someone needs to keep that kid away from horror movies!” _

He didn’t know what Marinette’s worst fear actually was, though if it was anything like his own… He hated to think of his best friend paralzyed with fear like that. She always seemed so strong, so confident. It would just be  _ wrong  _ for something, whatever it might have been, to turn her into a quivering wreck. 

...and yet something told him that whatever it was, he was about to find out! Bounding across town, leaping over the rooftops of petrified citizens, he made his way towards Marinette’s balcony.  _ Ladybug’s  _ balcony. 

...man, he was so blind! All of this time, his partner had been right in front of him and he hadn’t even noticed! ...wow, the magic of the miraculous must have been good! That, or he was just that dumb. Nope, it was definitely the magic of the miraculous. It had to be. 

Adrien was struck dumb by what he saw, his heart racing just a little as he saw who lurked on Marinette’s rooftop. His lady stood terrified, shaking as what could only be described as a dark mirror to himself approached. 

He was deathly cold, his… double. Pure white, like snow. A sickening feeling filled Adrien’s stomach, suddenly a lot of things were beginning to add up. At any other time, he might have felt proud, his Lady’s greatest fear was him turned to evil?   
  
Instead he felt sick. His copycat -no, no time for puns!- spoke with a villainous chill, speaking like death itself. He spoke like… well, his father actually. That chilling, emotionless tone, dripping with disdain.

“I told you, I can fix it,” his counterpart said. Adrien readied himself to pounce. “We can fix it. If you just give me… YOUR MIRACULOUS!” 

“...I think you should be put outside,” said Adrien, drop-kicking his double in the face. “Did nobody replace your kitty litter?”   


“Cat, no! Get out of here!” Marinette shouted, terrified. “You can’t face him, you can’t stop him. Just run!”

“But Milady,” Cat said, trying to keep his heart from pounding as his double ran at him with cataclysm in hand. “That would be im-paw-sible for me to do! You’ve got to be kitten me! Me, run from a fight?”   
  
Puns, that usually made her smile right? She needed reassurance that this was really him, not another nightmare.

Leaping backwards off the balcony, he flipped to another rooftop with Chat Blanc(?) following. It helped not to think of him as his double, as if he did...

“Leave,” said Blanc, finger-gunning a mini-cataclysm towards him. The little white orb of pure destructive energy rocketed past, utterly demolishing a chimney. Only a smoking crater was left behind. “She doesn’t need the stray…”

“You’re the stray,” said Adrien, sliding below another one of the copy’s orbs. “Milady only lets one cat into her life! I’ve even got the collar to prove it!”

The double slashed at him, claws extended. Violently, he attempted to tear into his suit. Grabbing Blanc’s white leather by the wrist, Adrien flipped him over onto the roof behind him. Magic rippled in the air, crackling with deathly energy. Chaos attempted to break loose, and reign free.

Where did this fake even come from? What wasn’t Marinette telling him? He seemed too… real, too thought out to be a simple nightmare. 

Blanc came at him again, launching a spinning circle of white energy towards him. Noir ducked under it, before extending his baton. The cold white form of his doppleganger was sent flying, well over to hopefully the other side of the city. His stark form stood out in the dark, setting itself against the black of the night skies.

_ “Hopefully he’s unconscious,”  _ Adrien thought to himself, his mind racing. Though he doubted it. If this funhouse mirror version of himself was anything like him, he could take a beating. He’d be back. Jumping into Marinette’s arms, he pulled her into a tight hug.    
  
“...Cat?” she whispered, sounding near tears. “Is it really you?”   
  
“Yeah, it’s me. ...who was he?” Adrien asked. 

“A… nightmare?” Marinette choked out, not really caring about secret identities anymore. “...would you believe that?”

Cat shook his head, holding her tight. “It’s okay, we’ll beat him together.”   
  
“...I wish I could believe that.” Marinette whispered. It felt so  _ wrong  _ to see her like this, petrified and afraid of  _ him _ . “But… I don’t think we can! Chaton… he… no, you. You’re unstoppable!”

“Normally, I’d be proud of you for thinking that. Thinking so highly of me and all, but nobody’s unstoppable. Not even him,” Adrien said calmly, rubbing her back comfortingly. “I’ll prove it. Now suit up. He may be a furmidable opponent, but you and me against the world Milady? Nothing can stop us!”

Cat to Cat this night would go. Black Vs White.

“We’ve only just scratched the surface of what we can do, you and I,” said his double as they raced across rooftops, Blanc firing off those destructive disks all the while. Ruins were left behind them, remnants of a fallen city in their dance of death. “You have so much power, and yet you’ve barely figured out how to use it. You’re just a little kitten compared to I!”

“Man, you talk too much,” said Noir, rocketing to him via his baton and punching him square in the face. “...you know that right?”

“Where’s our Lady?” mocked the copycat, staggering just a little. “Hiding like a coward no doubt!”

“No, she just doesn’t consider you worth her time,” Adrien said, flexing his claws. Personally, he’d long gotten tired of this yandere shtick his counterpart had got going on. “She’s got other worries! But I’ll gladly dance with you! So how about it, what do you say? Want to continue this little catfight? Just you and me, Cat to Cat!”

“Prepare to die, fake!” roared Chat Blanc flinging another deadly disk out at him. “Marinette has room for only one of me in her life, and it’s certainly not you!”

“Yeeeeeah, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t date nightmares,” said Cat, tossing his baton like a boomerang, beaning his duplicate in the head. He staggered, as the baton returned to Adrien’s outstretched hand. “No real substance to them, and you forget about them in the morning.”   
  
“That’s the thing, isn’t it…” said Blanc, advancing forwards. He finger-gunned another miniature orb of destruction at his opposite. Adrien weaved out of the way, before going in for a punch. Blanc caught it, still with that damnable grin on his face. “She’ll never forget me…”

That, Adrien realized with a sickened look, was probably true...

_ “Cat, no!” she sobbed in his arms. “You’ve seen how powerful he is, he'll kill them all!” _

_ “Yeah, maybe, but we have to take the risk,” Adrien affirmed. “We need help taking him down.” _

_ “NO!” Marinette cried, pushing him away. “...you don’t get it, he’ll destroy the whole world. He  _ **_has_ ** _ destroyed the whole world! Don’t you get it? Our love… we can never be together, it’ll destroy the whole world! It has!” _

_ “Marinette, please, you have to tell me where he came from. I have to know,” said Adrien, shaking a little at her terrified proclamation. “Do you trust me?” _ _  
_ _  
_ _ “Yes…” she said, wiping away her tears.  _ _  
_ _  
_ _ “I will never leave you, Marinette,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers. “We’re partners. Maybe we won’t fall in love, maybe we will, but together? We can do anything.” _

_ “Okay…” she said, and finally explained. Of a ruined world, and Bunnyx’s quest to keep it from coming to pass. She said she didn’t know everything, but she worked out a bit from Blanc’s proclamations. Adrien was horrified, but then his eyes hardened. Blanc had to be stopped. Nobody hurt his partner like this. Nobody. _

Cat kicked Chat in the shin, and the devil began hopping around yowling in pain. Eventually though, the battle was back on.

“Let’s paws and reflect, okay?” said the real Cat, dodging a punch from his double. Ducking under the blow, he slammed a fist into his stomach. Blanc nearly doubled over, coughing. “Don’t you get it? If you take away her Miraculous, it won’t solve anything! You won’t be able to save her, or anybody else!”   
  
And with that, Adrien charged his claws with pure black destructive energy, the cataclysm racing into his paw. He thrust his hand downwards, and down they fell through the ruins of a roof.

“How do you know?” said Blanc, leaping forwards into a spin with white energy on his claws. He slashed the ground, leaving ugly gash marks in the floor. Pure white arcs of energy raced forwards, and Adrien very narrowly escaped. 

“Because…” Marinette said shakely as Blanc suddenly found himself pulled upwards and hanging from the rafters. Dragonbug stood, crackling with lightning before she surged forwards with a jolt and Blanc was unconscious. “...here I am.”

Marinette took one last long look at the akuma, before she collapsed into Adrien’s arms sobbing one more. Adrien held her tight, casting nervous glances towards his doppleganger expecting him to break free, and go on the attack again. Marinette was right to be afraid of him, he mused. He had nearly been unstoppable, giving the real deal the fight of his life!

“I want to throttle Bunnyx, I seriously do,” said Adrien with a little growl. “Guardian of Time or not, she had no right to put you through that. She could have handled things herself!”   
  
“She… she was just doing her job, that’s all,” Marinette said, her cheeks puffy from crying. “The only one at fault here is Hawk Moth. Damn him. He turned you into that!”

“He’s not your Cat, you know,” said Adrien, still trying his best to comfort her. “He’s not even real.”   
  
Shakily, Marinette whispered, looking up at him with hallowed eyes: “...he was to me.”

Eventually, Sandboy was freed from his Akuma and the world’s longest night finally came to an end. New rules came.

No more secrets.   
  
No more masks to hide behind.

In the coming days, they’d face stronger adversaries but they had each other. Relationships died, some fizzling out as they always did and others grew stronger blazing like infernos. Marinette never did take to wearing white again, not that Adrien could ever blame her really.

And to think, it had all started because of a little beret! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so yeah. You have *no idea* how excited I was all December waiting to post this series. Like, I was constantly vibrating in place in anticipation for this, and okay yeah this and Cyberpunk 2077.
> 
> ...YMMV on which was the more agonizing wait. Anyways, yeah, I'm going to be putting both Marinette and Adrien through *hell* this week, mostly Adrien but really should you be surprised? This isn't Kagami Appreciation Week which calls for soft fluff. Even if Chat's ears look totally floofy and pettable and you just want to hug this poor sad cat. ...sorry, am I rambling?
> 
> Also, you a fan of Ladybug, and are you searching for a place to share your love for the series? Join us here at the [Miraculous Fanworks Discord! ](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks)


	2. Day 2: My Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Huge thanks to MiniMinou's Lady Blanche story for inspiring this, like thank you. ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21272675/chapters/50649758) I know, it's a bit derivative in places but I tried to put my own spin on it. I even got their blessing to do this.

As first meetings went, theirs could have gone better. They’d been a mess of tangled limbs, Paris probably laughing at their new heroes. It was embarrassing, instincts fighting a lifetime of natural clumsiness and just plain bad luck.

And now, here she was, passing that bad luck onto others!  
  
It was the ultimate irony.

She’d doubted herself for years, and now Paris itself was depending on her. He was depending on her! Bright green eyes sparkled, and shined, and his voice? God, it was warm with mirth. “Okay, I admit it. I’m not much of a _Ladybug_ but you?” he teased. “You’ve got the elegance and grace of a lady, right? So you’ll do!”   
  
Fighting down the blush, together they faced a golem. There were still a few screw ups, but hey no superhero career started perfectly right?

Paris loved them. Paris loved _her!_ Her of all people, she could hardly believe it! The screw up, the baker’s daughter. Behind the mask, she’d become a completely different person. Sassy, snarky. Things she’d always wanted to say, but never really had the courage to…

Now, if only her social life was that great…

Forget supervillains, the true evil in Paris was surviving school!

Chloe Bourgeois. How do I even begin to describe Chloe Bourgeois?  
  
“...please Nath,” she scoffed at a certain red-headed artist. “I don’t know why you’re drawing that _mangy_ alley cat!”

Mangy? She bathed every day!

“There are much prettier girls to draw, like moi!” Chloe went on, filing away at her nails.

Ugh, she had an ego big enough to fill a hot air balloon. No, strike that! A zeppelin. 

“...honestly, I think it’s plain to see why Miladysman keeps her around,” Chloe went on. “It’s certainly not for her personality. She’s clearly so not into him.”  
  
...oh, if she only knew! But really, it was hard _not_ to be attracted to Miladysman, stupid name aside. If you spent even five minutes around the blonde…

“...Really, the cat suit is her best feature!” Chloe continued. “That has to be it, boys will be boys after all! Even super-powered ones.”

Marinette suppressed a hiss and tried not to reach across the table and claw at Chloe violently. Oh, if that witch only knew what Miladysman was truly like!

“Don’t let her get you down,” Alya said comfortingly, resting a hand on her shoulder. “She’s just jealous, the hag. Nobody will ever love her. That girl is just pure evil, why she hasn’t been akumatized yet is beyond me!”

Her other partner in crime, Alya Cesaire. Most snakes were pure poison. But Alya was a living meme, a cute and cuddly snek. Every superhero team needed their guy, or girl in this case, in the chair. It helped that this one had the power to turn back time for five minutes to see what they did wrong in the future. She was their secret partner, nobody in Paris even knew of her. Probably a good thing, as if Hawk Moth knew of their secret weapon…?

“...sadly, I think even Hawk Moth has standards!”

Alya laughed, and class carried on. All was well.

Personally though, Marinette couldn’t _wait_ for the bell to ring. School was exhausting, and as a cat she wanted to get out and run. All of Paris was her domain now, and she had her territory to protect. Ugly moths were not welcome!   
  
Mind… if only her Kwami shared the same views.   
  
“....ugh, can’t we just lie in the sun for a few hours?” Plagg groaned as they walked to their next class. “You’ve got a perfectly good balcony, right? Use it!”

“Sorry Plagg, but there’s only so much time in the day and between homework, patrol, and fashion design, we’ve got no time to be lazy!” Marinette whispered back to him.

“...Mari, you have to be the weirdest Cat Noir yet! Most of them are always up for lazing about!” he grumbled, snarfing on his stinky cheese. Oh well, at least she was a baker so she could get ahold of it easily enough. And, given she was already known for bringing treats to class, nobody questioned _why_ she carried around some smelly cambertert. 

“Being class president, I have no time for that,” Marinette refuted. “And I don’t see you complaining whenever I destroy an Akuma…”

“Fair enough, but…” Plagg said, still hidden inside her bag. “I gotta ask, when are you gonna confess to that boy you like? He smells way too much like high priced cologne, pe-yew, and there’s the fact that he wears just a little too much hair gel but who am I to judge right? Human relationships are _weird_. But he’s ‘perfection’ right?”

“Plagg!” Marinette flushed a bright red, almost as red as Miladysman’s suit. She hissed out to him: “Don’t tease me like that! I’ll… I’ll confess when I’m good and ready, okay? It has to be perfect, just like him!”

“Please, I doubt he’s perfect,” Plagg rolled his eyes. “He’s a teenage _boy._ He likes sitting around the house, playing video games and eating pizza. Now does that sound attractive to you?”   
  
“Okay, so he has his little faults,” Marinette accepted. “No biggie! I’ll cross that bridge when I come to. ….oooh, maybe I should send him pizza coated with M&Ms? Like in The Princess Diaries? ...hint at my feelings?”

Plagg groaned long and loud.

“I’d say that’s more than a hint, Mari.” he deadpanned.  
  
“...yeah, you’re right,” Marinette agreed, her voice a near shriek. “It’s just….aaaagh, I don’t know what to do!”

“...I’m just saying, if you wait too long, the chance may pass you on by…” Plagg pointed out.

The kwami sighed to himself. His cat this time around was an unusual one. 

Like all the others, like all of the best cats she didn’t _ask_ for the power of destruction to dance at her fingertips. But she was impossibly insecure, when she put on the mask yeah she became a bit more confident but… all the same…

In her civilian life she tucked herself into a shell and slunk away from fights. She didn’t dare to challenge the world, or even want to change it. She was content to just whittle away at her designs, and even then because of her insecurities she barely lacked the courage to put them out there. Maybe dress her friends in them, but put them online on those human sites like Etsy? She barely considered the possibility.  
  
...not that he was worried. He was never worried. The kid just needed a little extra push, that was all!

“...you really think I should?” Marinette asked nervously, pressing her fingers together. “Confess to him today, I mean?”

“Well, I mean, _if you want…_ ” Plagg drawled. “Don’t expect me to help though! Love’s much too icky! Give me some cambertert any day!”

“You’ve got a one track mind, don’t you?” said Marinette with a little giggle. “Completely cheese sexual!”

“Got it in one!” Plagg grinned toothily, proudly. 

“Okay then!” his holder said, pumping her fist. “After class, I’ll do it!”

“Hope you’re happy kitt… kid,” Plagg said, catching himself and hoping she hadn’t noticed. “Just don’t ruin my appetite with all of that, ugh, _kissing_ okay? Otherwise you’ll find a hairball in your backpack!”

Marinette only laughed. She couldn’t wait for the end of today!

Alya was the first to know of her plans, well okay the second technically. But she was the first to know who was an actual human being. She was, predictably, over the moon. “I can’t believe you’re finally doing it girl,” she babbled on. “Like, wow! You’re actually going to confess!”  
  
“Y-Yeah,” Marinette said shakily. “Me too…”

“Don’t you _dare_ chicken out on me girl okay?” said Alya, searching around in her purse for her phone. “I utterly _refuse_ to be filming this and have you chicken out on me on camera!”

“Don’t worry, okay?” Marinette replied, sounding braver than she actually felt. “I-I got this!”

Hopefully her legs wouldn’t give out from under her before she found him again. Her Prince, and if she was right… her bug. 

Marinette had suspected for months, really. There were only so many blonde haired, green-eyed boys in Paris her age. Especially ones that loved stupid puns! Oh, there was that urge again, the one that asked her to hit him with her baton on pure reflex.

Please let it be true!

They could have three glorious children together one day, and all of the hamsters they wanted. Forget this stupid love square they were trapped in, this ended today. Sucking in a breath, she walked towards the gymnasium. No, she _strutted._

“...oh wow Marinette!” Alya applauded her. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were on drugs or something! That’s pure Lady Noire confidence, right there! Meow!”

The two laughed at some hidden joke known only to them.

Stray cat strut, she was some feline casanova to Paris. The cat’s meow. And yet she had her eye only on _one_ guy in Paris.

Her smile was _very_ cat-like. Or Plagg-like, really. The cat who got the canary, or the bug in this case! Yum!

“Marinette, are you alright?” Nino asked, watching her pass. Sweet, shy Marinette, quiet as a mouse, now striding about like she owned the place. “...you sure you’re feeling alright? You haven’t switched bodies with Chloe, right?”  
  
It hurt, just a little, she would admit. Nino had known her for years, he knew she possessed _some_ confidence and okay yeah, it had taken a bit to bring it out but all the same…

“You’re not having a stroke are you?” he asked again, still concerned. Bless him!

“The only stroke I’m having right now…” she said. “Is a stroke of _genius!_ ” 

Alya suppressed a snigger, barely able to fight back the laugh. She whispered something into Nino’s ear, and he tossed Marinette a thumbs up.

“You go dudette!” he proclaimed. 

Marinette tossed him a grateful smile. Yeah… she could do this!  
  
Alas, there was that old saying about pride going before the fall. And what a fall it was!

There stood Adrien, talking with his fencing partner. Marinette had never quite gotten her name, but she knew they were friends. Very _close_ friends, actually. And then she kissed him. Marinette didn’t stick around to see the rest.

To save her dignity, or rather what little was left there was of it, she ran and hid. It was only when she was out of sight did the tears start to fall.

Long and hard the sobs came, her whole body shaking with humiliation and heartbreak. She knew she never should have even tried, Plagg was right. She should have gathered up her courage sooner, before the chance passed her on by.

That… witch had stolen her Adrien. No no! He was happy, right? She should wish him only the best. Her body continued shaking, tears falling down her face unseen. Plagg purred softly into her in an attempt at comfort, trying to calm her down.  
  
“...it probably wasn’t what you think, kitten…” he whispered.

“...then what was it?” Marinette cried. “I mean, there are only so many ways to take a freakin’ kiss! That was her declaration of intent, wasn’t it? She loves him, and she got to him first…”

Plagg suddenly looked alarmed, and whispered: “...Kitten, run!”

Marinette didn’t seem to hear him. “...huh, what?”  
  
“RUN!” he shouted, this time more forcefully. 

And then Marinette realized seeing the little purple moth come fluttering to her. She let out a scream, throwing anything she could find at it. Pencils, erasers, all the while shouting: “Get away from me, you nasty bug!”

“It’s too risky to transform, kitten,” Plagg advised. “The _last_ thing we want is an akumatized Chat Noire.”

But Marinette wasn’t listening. “No… maybe I can destroy it with my Cataclysm before it reaches me… Plagg, Claws Out!”  
  
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaitttt!” Plagg yelled as he was sucked inside, and it was a valiant effort to be fair but ultimately fruitless really. Lady Noire was gone. There was only Chat Blanche…

Her last thought, before she went under? _“Save me.”_

\-----

Adrien had heard the screams, knowing what was probably coming. He’d seen Marinette rush away and his heart nearly dropped out of his stomach. Marinette had been the only other member of his class aside from him who had yet to be akumatized.

He’d always hoped it would never happen.

Now… he had to fight his best friend. No, now he had to save his best friend.

But nothing could have prepared him for the pure _white_ version of his partner sauntering up. Her hair, her costume, everything. It was white as bone, not a comforting sight like the white of a newfallen snow but like death itself. And suddenly, it hit him. She was wearing her face. Marinette’s face.

_“Oh fuck.”_

It was a sight he’d never wanted to see, that purple mask over her face. And yet here he was, seeing it live!  
  
He hoped nobody else had put two and two together, the last thing Marinette needed after today was the humiliation of her identity being exposed like this on top of a possible heartbreak. Great, he’d really stepped in it this time! 

“Agreste,” she said, with a complete lack of emotion in her tone. And then she shoved him up against a wall, hand around his throat and squeezing. In her other hand was a glowing white orb, pure unrestrained destruction. “You broke my heart. How about I break you?”

It came to her like a roar, a wave of pure emotion. Psychic force, Hawk Moth shouting through the force of their connection.  
  
 _“LEAVE HIM ALONE!”_

Now why would he want that, Chat Blanche wondered to herself?

_“HE IS NOT YOUR TARGET, FIND MILADYSMAN’S MIRACULOUS!”_

...God, Hawk Moth was as blind as she used to be. Oh well, Mister Bug could wait. She was still _technically_ one of the heroes of Paris, and she would never betray her city. And that meant finding her real target. Hawk Moth.

Once he was dealt with, well… Agreste would be next. She could wish him into loving him forever more.

Breathing hard, taking in gasps of air once she’d let him down, Adrien scrambled out of sight wondering just _why_ she’d let him live. And more importantly, how could he stop her?

\-----

It was still so very curious.

Why was Paris’ chief supervillain feeling so protective over a simple model?  
  
Were they partners, were they… oh yes. Now she understood. Were they father and son?   
  
Her poor Bug. 

All this time he’d never know.

Clever little Moth, akumatizing himself to throw off suspicion.

But now she was onto him, and like every cat she never let her prey go.

She’d been hoping to kill two men today. Hawk Moth _and_ Gabriel Agreste. Bit of a shame really, finding they were one and the same.

Oh well, there were plenty of evil people left in the world. She grinned. They’d be next. Now let the hunt begin!  
  


\-----

Aurore thought she was having a good day, but like a thunderstorm over the plains it quickly came upon her. A devil in white.

“...Lady Noire?” she breathed out. The fallen hero smiled cruelly.

“...no, not Lady Noire. Not anymore,” said she. “There’s only Chat Blanche. I’m probably going to be a naughty little kitty, but Hawk Moth? He’s been a _bad_ little bug! Get out your phone, Aurore. You run the BugOut blog right? Start a stream, I have a message for Hawkie!”   
  
Without question, she did as she was asked. 

Chat Blanche grinned. “Good girl.”  
  
“What… what are you going to do to me?” Aurore asked fearfully, her breath catching in her throat.

“...to you? Nothing,” Chat Blanche reassured. “Nothing at all…”

“How can I believe that?” Aurore panicked.

“Oh, don’t worry, I always keep my promises,” the fallen hero said speaking into the camera. “Do you hear that Hawkie? Me and Mister Bug, we promised to stop you! I intend to uphold that promise. I’ve always had the power to kill someone, you know. One touch, and bye-bye little butterfly,” she remarked, filing away at her frighteningly sharp claws.

“...oh good god, this is real,” Aurore realized.

“Duh, this isn’t some nightmare I’m afraid. Wish it away all you like, but Chat Blanche is here to stay!” the ex-heroine continued. “There’s a reason I wanted this interview, Hawkie. I just want you to know. I’m coming for you. There’s very little you can do to stop me, try all you like but the hunt is on. I know you’re watching Paris, so feel free to quiver in terror all you like but I also remember how many times people have _died_ from Hawk Moth’s attacks. They always get brought back of course, nothing more than a vague nightmare but that doesn’t change the fact that. It. Happened.”

She filed at her claws some more, sitting atop a desk.

“I know that you’re responsible for every one of those deaths, Hawk Moth and I wanted you to know I know so that you can quiver in terror. Who knows, maybe you’ll finally grow a heart and surrender your Miraculous. Or maybe not, and I’ll have to pry it from your dead body by force. I’m not picky. You’re dead either way, I’m coming for you. Buh-bye, Bugheads.”

With that, she picked herself up and sauntered out of the room with her tail swishing behind her. Spinning her baton in her claws, she readied herself for transport. 

“...could you really do it?” Aurore asked bravely. “Kill someone, just like that?”  
  
“The old me… probably not. She was too weak,” Chat Blanche continued. “But now, I am free. Free to be me. The new world can’t come into being without the old one being torn down. I have the power of Destruction itself at my claw tips. It should be an easy enough task to bring it into being.”

And that’s when a familiar black and red yo-yo reached through the window, pulling her up and out it.

\-----

“My Prince,” said Chat Blanche, strung up but quickly free with her claws. “...I was wondering when you’d show.”

She advanced, claws at the ready.

“You’ve got to stop this Marinette,” Miladysman exclaimed. “This isn’t you!”

“Oh, but I think it is,” said she. “The real me, unchained from worldly worries! Now there’s only the hunt! Stand aside, I don’t want to hurt you, but if you keep standing in my way…”

“Then I’m truly sorry,” said Miladysman, swinging his yo-yo and wrapping it around her legs. With a tug, he pulled her forwards before swinging her around. Letting the yo-yo go, it unwrapped itself from her and she crash-landed in the school gym. There had been several times this had already gone wrong, and Jade Serpent knew each and every one of them. She was feeding him instructions, on what to do exactly and what not to.

“...ah, how fitting!” Chat Blanche grinned, quickly righting herself. Cats always landed on their feet after all! “Where it all began, where I was born! Where Marinette was cast aside…”

She finger-gunned a ball of pure white energy towards him, practically flicking it. Jade Serpent shouted something in his ear, and he dodged under it. Apparently, this was another easy place to die.

A wall came down on top of him, and Adrien flipped upwards kicking through it. Another easy place to die. A destructive disk of energy just barely passed under his head, shaving off some of his locks.

It sliced through the roof, ripping it up. Adrien flipped behind his opponent, and tried to trip her up with a leg sweep. She leaped over his attack, and kicked him square in the face. 

“...you didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?” Chat Blanche grinned. “Now honestly, do you really want to have this here?”  
  
As a demonstration, she created an orb of pure energy in her palm. It grew larger and larger until it practically eclipsed the courtyard. Adrien swallowed in fear, if she let that thing drop…

“Ah, now you get it,” Chat said. “So, how would you like to die?”

Again, Jade shouted instructions in his ear. Don’t attack! Don’t attack! 

“This isn’t you,” Adrien pleaded, trying to be diplomatic. “You’re a hero, a hero wouldn’t kill all of these people just to prove a point…”

“Yeah, you’re right…” Chat sighed before she looked him dead in the eye. “But I can kill you!”

And then she pounced, the two tumbling out the front doors. Adrien quickly took to the rooftops, swinging from building to building. He swung around a corner, only to see Blanc in front of him. Her palm glowed with destructive energy, the power of a god at her claw tips. He let himself free, falling under her, before swinging to another building.

Giving him a venomous glare, his Lady Love bounded after him on her baton. A formerly heroic instrument, now turned towards evil desires.

He had to think fast. “If you kill me…”

“I can’t deliver the Miraculous to Hawk Moth?” grinned Chat, none of Marinette’s usual warmth present. “I can’t fall in love with you ever again? Don’t worry, I know what my wish will be. I’ll change the world, have it all revolve around me and you. You’ll be my prince forever.”

“That’s not love!” Adrien said, the two trading punches. “Not the real kind!”  
  
And then Hawk Moth took control over her, trying to wrestle his greatest creation back to hell. It was clearly obvious he was fighting a losing battle though, judging by Chat’s expressions. And then she yanked her leash free, with a yowl of: “SHUT UP HAWK MOTH!”   
  
And again, she was on the offensive slashing at her former partner. His suit was now an even deeper red from her slashes. Ducking under another disk of destruction, he ran up a chimney before back flipping off it and going in for a heel drop.

His Lady rolled out of the way, spiderweb cracks erupting from where his foot landed. 

“I don’t want to fight you, but you’re leaving me no choice!” Adrien shouted, as Chat spin-kicked him. He held back the attack with his wrist gauntlets, with his foe flipping backwards and then launching another disk. Adrien just barely ducked under it, not really wanting to know how many Second Chances that Alya must have been through by now.

“I love you!” Adrien shouted.

“Don’t make me laugh!” said Blanche, leaping towards him. Adrien grabbed her, and slammed her into the rooftop, holding her arm behind her back.

“I swear, it’s you! It’s always been you!” Adrien pleaded, nearly crying. “I didn’t realize it until today, but it’s just you!”

“Then… then why did you kiss her?” Blanche asked, managing to free herself. She spun, finger-gunning another orb of pure energy towards him. Adrien weaved out of the way, then wrapped his yo-yo around her, and with a tug pulled his partner close. 

“She kissed me,” Adrien confessed, wiping away Marinette’s tears. “She was in love with me, but… but I couldn’t return her feelings. Not when… Not when I’m in love with you!”

“Adrien…” Marinette whispered. Marinette, not Chat Blanche. And then she was gone. With a headbutt, she sent her partner staggering. She let out a roar. “YOU’RE LYING!”

“No, I’m not, I swear!” Adrien pleaded before kissing her. It was a long kiss, the two wrapping themselves around each other, finally pulling away for air. Then they dived back in, kissing hungrily, lovingly. 

“...Adrien…” Marinette whispered, before Chat Blanche returned. But she knew something now. That Miladysman, that Adrien would never love a monster like her. But she could give him one last gift, a token of her affections. And so, before she finally let her other side take control again she whispered the name of who tried to control her. As ever, destruction would topple gods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, love to Keyseeker for her help. She knows what she corrected me on.
> 
> And yeah, I totally see Alya in a future where all masks cast aside as the 'guy in the chair' so to speak. It so fits her, with her powers of observation.


	3. Day 3: The Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to Zoe and Meirencollector for the proofing on this one!

_“Ain't it a shame_

_I'm not a figment of your ailing, old mind…”_ -Life Will Change, Persona 5

The moon illuminated the rooftops of Paris, bringing light to otherwise shadowy deeds. A silent form, cat-like, slunk into the top floor of an apartment. He clambered up vines and over the windowsill. 

Like a spectre, he flew into the room, ghostly white, and tread on wooden floors as silently as he could. He danced past security systems, his paws leaving nary a trace that he was there. He could have chosen many colors to fly high, green, blue, black or red. But he preferred white, as he could be like a true phantom thief in the night.

He was a white knight to the poor and oppressed, honestly. The poor and oppressed being the many valuables he looted from others, liberating them from a lifetime of gathering dust. Nobody ever truly appreciated them, honestly! All they did was lock them behind closed doors, and rarely gave them a second thought. Bragging rights, that’s all these treasures ever were to them!

 _“Kid, don’t you dare take your time on this one,”_ a voice crackled over the radio, along with the distinctive ‘snarf’ sound of a cambertert slice meeting it’s maker. _“Honestly, I don’t understand why you have to leave a note to the police before every crime! It’s like you’re wanting to be caught!”_

“Part of the thrill innit?” Chat Blanc remarked as he tried the safe. There were always two schools of safe cracking in this gig. Some thieves liked to try and beat the lock, right? Others, well, they like to break the lock. Thing is, once you were in a building and the police were onto you? You had to get out fast. The fact of the matter is, even the fanciest equipment can fall to a good old fashioned crowbar. “It’s literally in the Arsene Lupin playbook! Leave a note, tell people you’re about to make an impossible heist, and then do the heist anyways.”  
  
 _“And most phantom thieves, I suspect, don’t pry open safes with crowbars,”_ Plagg said dryly. _“Removes some of the fantastic from the equation, doesn’t it?”_

“Eh, why waste time? Besides, same end result!” Chat grinned toothily and studied the perfectly cut ruby in his hands. But that wasn’t all that he’d looted, no—a mysterious eagle talon was his as well. This seemed _far_ more valuable to his eyes. But for a different reason, as while the thief was many things, he hated looting the items of living tribes. The owner of this penthouse didn’t seem to have the same restraint. He growled, he hated playing the karmic thief –never any profit in it for one thing– but it seems in this instance that’s the role he’d play!

That’s when he heard the sound of an elevator coming up, it was old and creaky and squeaked a little, giving him just enough warning to get out of there. And throwing open the windowpane in a flash, he leaped out of the building and onto a nearby rooftop.

Then came the sound of a gun, and a bullet whizzed by his head. A familiar yell breached the night air. _“Le voleur du chat blanc!”_

“Ah, Inspector Cesaire!” Chat saluted. “Your aim is lousy as ever I see!”

“I’m bringing you in _errant_ ,” the inspector said, just barely managing to leap over to his rooftop. “Now stop, in the name of the law!”   
  
Chat allowed her to get close, just close enough so that she thought he’d be cuffed. But then, he was off.

“I said stop!” she thundered.

“Yeah, you did,” Chat admitted. “You didn’t say for how long!”  
  
With that, he dived over the ledge and then was soaring off into the night on a hang glider, leaving the poor Inspector Cesaire spitting and swearing. Grabbing her phone, she dialed for backup. _“I want all cars to be on the lookout! Chat Blanc can’t be allowed to escape the city! Do not let him get to the train station, I repeat! Do not let him get to the train station!”_

Now, Chat, of course, knew that Cesaire, thorn in his side that she was, would pull something like that. She always wanted to be the one to step on his tail. Meowvelous, wasn’t it? Now, yeah, he could easily outrun the cops. And slipping into his convertible Jaguar, he considered it. But that wasn’t flashy enough, he had to simply _vanish_ into the night. Like a ghost.

So, alas, the Jaguar had to be left behind for now. Plagg would come to pick it up later. He needed something simple, something unassuming. Ah yes, that little Renault would do!  
  
Of course, he had to be careful. The police were going to be on the lookout for blonde men right at this moment. Now, figuring out if a car was tailing you was actually rather simple. It boiled down to… well, basically driving like an imbécile. You speed up, slow down, signal one way, turn the other. And whatever you do, don’t wind up in a high speed chase. That, as Chat knew, just would wound you up on the six-o-clock news. 

So he kept on driving like a cretin until someone made a mistake, say like, making a wrong turn. Which was exactly what the policeman that Chat assumed was tailing him just did.

Now it was just a simple leisurely drive to the train station, and getting out of town. All in all, it was another successful heist! And no bodies dropped! Chat hated killing, he’d do it if he had to, but he liked to avoid it if necessary. The less bodies he dropped, the less counts of murder he’d go away for if he was ever caught. Not that he would ever be caught of course. Inspector Cesaire was driven, determined even, but simply not that good!

Speaking of, he thought could hear her yelling now. 

_“BLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNCCCCCCCCC!”_ her voice echoed into the night. Chat chuckled, may she never change! Now, to get this talon back to its proper owners. A quick stopover at the American Embassy in Paris should do the job…

\-----

Infiltrating hostile territory is all about blending in, which for a sniper in the bush meant a ghillie suit. For a party, that meant a tuxedo. Thankfully, when you were rich both were easy to acquire. 

Chat, or rather _Adrien Agreste_ had been to plenty of parties in his lifetime. He’d downed gallons of wine, woke up with a couple hangovers. Those were never fun, but it was a hazard of the job. But to the aspiring gentleman thief, a word of advice. You never go on a job while drunk. You made mistakes. And if you made mistakes, you got caught!

And you never wanted to get caught.

So whatever you planned on stealing, after you scouted out the object of your desires… don’t do it on the night you planned to party. Now, stealing while there was a party going on was always good, nobody heard the breaking of glass or an explosion or two with music drowning it out. But you never stole _while_ you were partying. Wine often led to the bane of many a thief, stupidity.

And really, going to parties was, for Adrien, the same reason you went to a library. They were always full of information - if you knew how to ask.

Of course, they had another benefit as well. Being able to look someone in the eye after you’d _just_ stolen something from them the night before!

“I don’t believe it!” Chloe Bourgeois, heiress and party girl shrieked. Yelling vociferously, she went on: “That mangy cat, he struck again! He stole from me, _from me!_ Doesn’t he know who he’s messing with? Ohhhhhhh, when I get my daddy on the phone, he’ll regret trying to pilfer from my family ever again!”

Chat just sipped from his wine, trying to hide the smug smile from his face. 

“Ugh, really?” said another woman, petite but with a more natural beauty to her. “Okay, a few gems stolen is a bit tragic, but she’s got plenty right? Ugh, I think I’m going deaf thanks to her shrieking.”  
  
“From the sounds of it, this isn’t your first meeting,” Chat observed.

“Ugh, god no,” said the woman, a noirette. “I wish it was, but sadly we used to attend school together. We go way back. Like, pulling my pigtails way back.”

“I pity you,” said Chat, slipping into his ‘Adrien’ persona all too easily. “You want to go outside, get away from her just for a bit?”  
  
“Is the mysterious gentleman offering to take me away for a snog?” the noirette sniped. Adrien raised an eyebrow, the lady was feisty! “Sorry, no, I don’t date men I’ve met only once. I certainly don’t kiss and tell! ‘Sides, it’s way too cold out tonight. I, alas, must stay inside… with Chloe.”

Adrien and her cast glances to the heiress, still wailing like a harpy.

“...and another thing!” she ranted. “I thought Blanc had an inspector after him, the stray! Isn’t that what they pay her to do, to catch thieves in the night? God, oooooooh I really have half a mind to go around to the station and give her a piece of my mind!”

“As I said, I pity you,” Adrien acknowledged trying to block out her shrieking. “Oh, look at me! I’m being impossibly rude, I never caught your name!”  
  
“Marinette,” said the noirette, now with name. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”   
  
“MDC?” Adrien realized, raising an eyebrow.

“...ah yes, I was hoping you wouldn’t make that connection, but it’s me,” Marinette blushed as red as her dress. “Please try not to let that spread around, I’m trying to have a normal night out for once.”

“You have my paw-mise,” Adrien said, letting a little Chat slip out and Marinette rolled her eyes at the pun. “Your secret is safe with me! Adrien Agreste! Don’t tell me the cat has got your tongue!”

Adrien knew it was a good idea to keep your interactions with someone who might have been dangerous relatively non-threatening. Even if they were petite fashion designers in dresses they probably did themselves. You never knew who was hiding a gun and who might turn you into the police at any given opportunity. 

So this meant flirting your way with them as much as you liked. It often never led anywhere, except for maybe a one night stand, but it still had it’s benefits. No matter where you were, Moscow, Tehran, Miami or Paris, girls were always a good source of information. They often said things to handsome men they might not otherwise, they let down their guard. They gave out phone numbers, hotel keys, all sorts of crucial information.

“Ugh, that’s my sister,” Marinette muttered checking a text. “She wants me at the opening of a new exhibit tomorrow, moral support and all.”

“New exhibit?” Adrien questioned before laughing. “Forgive me, I’m new in town. I haven’t been checking the papers!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Marinette explained. “Promise you can keep a secret?”  
  
“Cat’s honor,” Adrien replied, hoping that she wasn’t smart enough to make the connection. “Besides, it’s not like everyone won’t know tomorrow!”   
  
“True,” Marinette admitted. “It’s this statue dug up from a Tibetan temple, they say it’s magical but I’ll leave that when I see it. Kagami, she's my adoptive sister, found it and just knew it had to be in her museum, the Musée d'Orsay. They say it’s _cursed_ , can you believe it?” she laughed.

Crucial information, like say information about a new exhibit. A new score! Now stealing a statue the night before it was supposed to debut. Now wouldn’t that throw Paris into a storm?

“Like the rabbit’s paw?” Adrien asked. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you against any curses, Princess!”  
  
“Yeah, sorry, curses require me to believe in them. And I don’t. And nor am I in the market for any Princes, so you and your Prince Charming act can just ride along home,” Marinette sniped. 

“Kitty has claws!” Adrien teased.

“...and stop with the cat jokes,” Marinette drawled, with another roll of her eyes. “...who do you think you are, Chat Blanc?”  
  
“Just _chatting_ , that’s all!” Adrien said with a little twinkle in his eye and Marinette laughed a little. 

“What are you anyways, I forgot to ask,” Marinette pondered. “You know what I do, but I don’t know what you do.”

Working a cover, whether you’re a spy or someone else, at a foreign resort -such as a hotel in Paris- actually isn’t related to keeping a low profile. What it’s actually about having as much access as possible. Arriving in a nice car, stolen or otherwise, and tipping extravagantly from time to time, it usually does the trick. The service staff will open all sorts of doors for you. You don’t have to be rich, you just have to sell it. If you actually are rich, even better!

“Well, it’s actually not _that_ glamorous…” Adrien said, playing the humble man and running a hand through his hair. 

“Oh?” Marinette said, leaning forwards with a look in her eye. “I like men of mystery.”

Now, on the other hand if you’re just wanting to rub elbows with the other guests, all you have to do is cover that gives you an excuse to be social, and for the hotel to give you a nice room. Say, if you were interested in taking a woman back with you. There’s one cover that works above all else.

“Travel writer,” Adrien admitted. “I didn’t actually plan to be in Paris, but my plane’s on layover for a few days. Them’s the breaks! Oh well, let no opportunity go to waste I guess!”

“Agreed,” Marinette said, linking her arm with his. “Allow me, Mr. Agreste, to take you on a night on the town!”  
  
“Oh… no no, you really shouldn’t,” Adrien stammered. “I really need to get back to my room, it’s getting late and…”

“Well, you’ll still be here tomorrow right?” Marinette grinned. “I need something to do other than spend time at a museum I admittedly care very little for. After I’m done with my sister, call me. Here’s my number.”

Passing a card to him, she smiled and sauntered off into the crowd. Adrien kept a _very_ watchful eye on her retreating form until it vanished into the crowd. Oh man, he’d lucked out! Alas, he couldn’t do anything about her tonight.

Remember that advice about not stealing when drunk? Sometimes you had to ignore your own advice, as _sometimes_ a score was way too good not to pass up!

Just be careful not to play with fire, otherwise you might get burned. And if the woman you like would be in a bad mood the next morning, well it was always nice to play the comforting guy friend right? Really, Adrien mused to himself slipping out the back way and preparing to get dressed into his party suit. He had it made! This would be a piece of cake, and then he’d have another sweet treat…

\-----

Chat always had this rush before a heist, a unique thing like fire making its way through his veins. The thrill of getting caught with valuable goods or absconding his way off into the night with them. Would he get caught, would he slip up, would he see the inside of a six by six cell in Clairvaux? Or would he ascend into the night and live to see the next morning?  
  
That was always the real draw. The adrenaline rush, the valuables only he could appreciate were always nice but the sheer _thrill_ of outrunning or outfoxing the cops was always nice. The usual note came first, of course.

 _“Dear Paris, tonight you shall see a heist like no other! I won’t waste time_ **_chatting_ ** _about my plans, so I’ll tell you straight up. The Musée de l'Orangerie shall be robbed tonight, by me. Enjoy your valuables while you can, you’ll never know what I’ll take until it’s too late. Ta-ta for now! May fortune favor you. Chat Blanc.”_

There was always a cat pun, his trademark of course.

Now, a bit of a reality check for you. There’s this iconic image in movies of a cat burglar in a skintight suit descending from a line in the skylight and tiptoeing past some laser grid. Behind a vault, something nice. He would always make it out before anyone knew he was there.

It was actually a bit easier than that. All you needed to know was what you were stealing, and you needed a getaway plan. Just strike when nobody expected you. Of course, when they were expecting you that was something different. So, don’t tell anyone where you were _really_ going. Become a ghost in the night.

The Musée d'Orsay was on the banks, a perfect view of the river. Maybe Chat would go in by boat. He certainly wouldn’t come from the sewers. It’d be way too easy to ruin his nice attire! No, he took a more mundane solution. He became a custodian. 

Nobody expected the guy with a mop to be a serious threat after all! Take the Mona Lisa theft. If you were outside the Louvre on the cold morning of Aug. 21, 1911, you might have noticed three little handymen rush out of the building, in hopes of returning the painting to its native Italy.

And here was Chat, paying homage if not to steal a painting but a statue. It was a risk, he supposed. Marinette could identify him, but a lot of people had overheard her talking about the statue that night. And the first people the police would check were the staff. Not some random party goer. He was really home free. There would be fingers pointed, of course, and theories tossed around but once again nobody would be the wiser as to who _le voleur du chat blanc_ really was. 

Stealing the statue was a simple matter, honestly. It barely weighed a thing, something so tiny and yet so valuable. 

The alarm alerted police to his presence soon enough, and his favorite stalker was probably already rushing to the scene.

“HALT!” someone roared over a megaphone, shining a light upon the now leather clad cat. His uniform had become now iconic, no longer did the aspiring gentleman thief wear a suit, top hat and cape. Nowadays, he played to the more popular image of a cat burglar, all leather. He still kept the mask though! 

Chat ran across rooftops, searchlights following his every move. And then, he was gone, vanishing over a roof. And from out of the shadows roared a lion. A pure white Jaguar F-TYPE P300, to be precise. 

_“I gotta admit kid,”_ Plagg said over the radio, the older man probably holed up in an apartment watching the show as always. _“You’re cutting it close this time! What about that Marinette girl, aren’t you worried about her? You know how I feel about loose ends!”_ _  
_ _  
_ “No killing her Plagg,” Chat argued, squirreling down another corner to lose his police pursuer. The thing about making a clean getaway? It was often more about some handling over raw horsepower. So, in a jam like this? Rear-wheel drive was your best bet.. That said, it doesn't honestly hurt to have almost 300 horsepower at your fingertips at the word ‘go’. “You know how I feel about that! It honestly leaves too many questions, and I hate dropping bodies. So ungentlemanly!”

 _“You’re growing soft kid,”_ said Plagg with a sigh. Then he realized. _“Wait, no, don’t tell me! You_ **_like_ ** _her don’t you! Little Chinese girl stole your heart! HAHAHAHAHA, that’s rich! I never thought it would happen, but the public finally stole something from_ **_you!_ ** _”_

“You’re enjoying this way too much,” Chat replied. “And no, she didn’t steal my heart! She’s just another woman!”  
  
 _“Uh-huh, and yet you suddenly decide to make a grand theft just like that?”_ Plagg reasoned as Chat rounded another corner ducking into a tight alleyway. There was always a small window of time after a chase began till the police started busting out the helicopters, so if you’re going to get away... you had to do it fast. Three hundred horsepower cars were nice and all, but they were usually pretty easy to spot. So again, best you have a backup plan on standby. Or better yet… a partner who will always have another ride for you. _“So what is this? Some token of appreciation, your version of someone sending a basket of roses? You raising your tail and flashing your dick? Most women don’t appreciate you stealing from their sisters, last I checked!”_

As Chat roared out of a storehouse in a Saab 9-3 of all things -really, he needed to talk to Plagg about the cars he always had ready for him!-, off went his mask and ears. Back he was in a nicely pressed suit, and he looked the part of not a thief but an able businessman. He was once again Adrien Agreste, travel writer and debonair international man of mystery. 

He could settle down and relax. As long as nobody checked his suitcases, he was a-okay. Another successful heist. Except… 

_“I need to get out of Paris,”_ he thought sadly. _“It’s too hot right now for Adrien Agreste to be seen here right now. I’m sorry Marinette, but I’ll have to miss out on our date!”_

...god, Plagg was right. He was forming an attachment to her! Was it love? Probably not, no. But it could have been something. Guess he’d never know now. Damnit.

“Little kitty all on the roof, all alone without his lady…” Adrien hummed sadly to himself. “Looks like I won’t be asking you to fly to the moon with me!”

With a sad little sigh, he took to the streets joining the many cars on the roads of Paris. Everything seemed to be going well, he’d be out of Paris in the hour with nobody the wiser. Once again, Inspector Cesaire would be without her man. The victory was pretty hollow though. C’est la vie.

It was then he noticed something was off, two big black sedans were coming up on either side of him. That… didn’t look good. Plagg’s next words didn’t help soothe his worries either. _“...uh kid, I’ve kinda got some good news and some bad news. The good news, you got away clean from the gendarmes. The bad news, well I looked into who owned that museum. The Bourgeois. Seems there’s a reason they’re so wealthy! Kid, they’re part of the French Mafia! You need to get out of Paris, no out of France as soon as you can!”_

“...uh, about that…” Adrien asked nervously. “How long do I got?”

 _“...what are you getting at?”_ Plagg prodded. _“These guys, I’ve seen what they do to people who cross them. Like, they’re real hardcore badasses.”_ _  
_ _  
_ “Do they drive big black SUVS, or is that an American cliche?” Adrien pondered, sarcastically and severely hoping he was wrong.

 _“Shit kid, you need to go, like right now!”_ Plagg shouted in realization, terrified. And his partner floored it, speeding away from the massive SUVs that were rapidly closing in. Maybe he’d ditched his Jaguar a bit too soon!

Tires squealing, he peeled down a corner breaking off the main road. He’d lose them on the sidestreets, Adrien figured. Big massive SUVs weren’t meant to last long in a chase through the city streets. As long as he didn’t let them box him in, he was good. He needed to get to the airport, and _fast_.

 _“Forget the score kid!”_ Plagg advised, nearly screaming through his earpiece. _“I’d settle for you being alive! Run for it! I’ll see if I can buy you some time, get you some breathing room. I’ve been waiting to test the Cataclysm virus anyways!”_

And then the traffic lights all went crazy, flashing red on all sides. Cars slid and crashed into one another, and it was only going as fast as he could that Adrien avoided the inevitable pileup. His pursuers weren’t so lucky, slamming into the back end of one car or smashing into the side of another SUV.

Adrien laughed gleefully, Plagg cackling at the chaos over his earpiece. _“Damn! I didn’t even know if that would work, but I was so glad it did! You’re not home free yet kid, though. I doubt they’ll be the last, and honestly you really need to get out of the country. I’ve chartered a flight, you just need to get to the airport!”_

Then Plagg was soundly proven right again as tires squealed and several little Golfs smashed through a fence, headlamps glowing like demonic eyes.

Adrien swerved the wheel, taking another corner with the little hatchbacks hot on his heels. Nipping and biting at him, they threatened to overtake. He so wished he was Bond right now, with the wheel spikes and oil slicks. 

One came at him from the side, threatening to smash into the Saab and cave in the passenger door. Adrien swerved the wheel again, going down into another alleyway as the Golf slammed into the side of a building. It smoked, coughing and wheezing having slammed into a building’s corner straight on. Then the engine exploded with an ear-shattering boom, the hood flying high landing in the street with a loud clatter.

Now onto another street, Adrien swerved, dodging oncoming traffic with the two remaining golfs still in hot pursuit.

They were soon right behind on his tail, one attempting to ram his 9-3. Adrien served at the last minute, and the Volkswagen met empty air. And then Adrien slammed into it from the side as the Golf rolled up onto the curb and hit a lightpost.

Adrien broke down another corner, thankful that he knew the streets of Paris so well. The final Golf tried to follow, but went into a spin tires squealing in protest. Around in a circle it went, and Adrien left it far behind.

“Sorry, but I’m not feline up to meeting your boss tonight!” he called. “Say hi to him for me though!”

And then came the roar of an engine, a midnight black CTS emerging from the shadows. It raced alongside him, windows dark as night. Adrien ducked as he saw the passenger window roll down, a man in a suit pointing a gun at him. Bullets whizzed over his head, bursting through the front windscreen. 

Adrien, still keeping his head as low as he could, slammed into the side of the Cadlliac. Sparks flew, but it really didn’t seem to budge. However, the gun did fly out of the thug’s hands, and landed into his side seat with a little clatter. Adrien pulled back, and then came at the car from behind ramming it. 

Pulling back, he did a little J-Turn and peeled off down the street forcing the driver of the CTS to make a hard turn back after him. And that’s when Adrien saw the Mac-10 being pointed at his head. Ducking low again as the henchman fired wildly, Adrien knew he had to think fast.

Now, it must be said while in a car, you really didn’t have many options to stage a gunfight. However, there are a few unprotected spots on a car. The wheels for instance, are a good target. But, nothing definitely beats sheer panic from bullets erupting underneath your feet. A few well placed ricochets work nicely!  
  
Adrien hated guns, really. They always left behind such a mess, and bullets were traceable. That didn’t mean he knew how to use one when the situation called for it. So, a few shots later and it was only a question of who’d chicken out first. Him, or the enemy driver.

Spoiler, it wasn’t a certain phantom thief. 

He saw the CTS serve headlong into a building, engine crackling with flame. The mafia thugs inside all bailed out as up it went. 

It was really a clean break to the airport, or at least that was what Adrien _hoped_. It was dashed, as while making his way to his private plane, he saw familiar men in suits. 

“Damn, they just don't give up do they?” Adrien swore to himself, and then quickly scurried as he ran for his life. Pushing past tired tourists and businessmen, he knew where his flight was. The only question was, could he reach it?  
  
“Plagg…” Adrien asked, heavily panting. “Please tell me you got something!”   
  
_“Oh, don’t worry!”_ Plagg laughed devilishly. _“I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve! Here comes my big surprise!”_

“HALT!” shouted a voice Adrien never thought he would be so happy to hear. Inspector Cesaire was rushing up, badge in hand with two more officers in tow. Her long coat flowed behind her, her red mane practically as ablaze as her fury-filled eyes. “ON THE GROUND, NOW!”

As the thugs were cuffed, Inspector Cesaire approached him. For a moment, Adrien’s breath caught in his throat. Would she arrest him too? No, he calmed himself. She didn’t know who he really was, she couldn’t have.

“I apologize Mr. Agreste,” the Inspector said, eyes softening. “I’m not quite sure what they wanted with you, and frankly I’m not sure I want to know. We got an anonymous call, said you were under attack by these guys. Don’t worry, we’ll find out who they work for. Have a nice evening, okay?”  
  
Adrien had to resist laughing all the way to the plane. This little game of cat and mouse had quite an unexpected ending! _“Well, she may not have caught you, but I think this little gift should keep her satisfied for a while eh?”_ _  
_ _  
_ “Thanks Plagg…” Adrien said, and left the bright lights of Paris behind him. He thought of his Princess. Maybe he’d be back one day… Maybe, hopefully. He sang a song of love, and hoped that maybe one day Marinette would hear it too. _“Le ciel bleu sur nous peut s'effondrer,_

 _Et la terre peut bien s'écrouler. Peu m'importe, si tu m'aimes…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I was watching Burn Notice while writing this one. Why do you ask?
> 
> But jokes aside, turns out quite a few of Michael's comments on spycraft also translate pretty damn well over to Phantom Thieving. Someone, and I actually kid you not, managed to find and compile a list of Michael's comments all the way up to season 6. [As shown here.](http://burnnotice.djmed.net/summaries/voiceEpisode.html)
> 
> In any event, I am absolutely IN LOVE with the idea of the Phantom Thief. Not sure why, maybe it's the clothes or the idea of someone stylishly making off with valuables in the middle of the night, evading police in flashy fashion and dropping no bodies. Usually leaving a note of warning beforehand. Like, GOD that's always fun to read. And obviously, Chat makes a perfect gentleman thief...
> 
> By and by, the ending song Chat was singing was Hymne A L'Amour, by Edith Piaf.


	4. Day 4: Breaking More Than My Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to lady_rini_b3 for the proofing, and to JJ for the prompt that inspired this actually.
> 
> "Just like Plagg can use Cataclysm on his own, all other kwamis can use a super powered up version of their attacks. Hawk Moth learns of this, and orders Nooroo to use his. Nooroo's power when not transformed summons the most powerful akuma their current holder has ever created-- from any timeline.
> 
> Nooroo summons Chat Blanc right in the middle of Hawk Moth's lair.
> 
> Chat Blanc of course does not react well to Gabriel, and quickly leaves the lair and mansion in ruins. As he races out across the city he's surprised to find everything in one piece, meaning he has no reason to make a wish. The only thing he needs now is his Lady."

It started off so simply. Gabriel had observed the sheer power that was the Kwami of Destruction’s unrestrained capability. Paris would have lain in ruins if not for that pesky little girl’s healing wave. He shuddered in horror, remembering the steel beams come down atop him, and if not for his cane he probably would have died. 

He knew he should have stopped it there.  
  
He really should have.

But he had to get the Miraculous. 

That rotten little cat may have had the power of a god, but so did he. Once he had both of their miraculous, he would bring back his dear sweet Emilie. 

His usual Akumas had been failing him. Now it was time to start thinking creatively. So, what, he wondered, could _Nooroo_ do without his brooch holding him back? Yes, now there was an idea! Why hadn't he thought of this before?   
  
He would win. He would rise. All of Paris akumatized!   
  
Fighting back the urge to laugh maniacally, he released his transformation. 

“Master…?” Nooroo asked nervously, noticing the crazed look on his holder’s face. “Is… anything the matter?”

He shuddered in horror, he hadn’t seen him look that insane since what had happened to that poor Chloe girl. He knew his master had a horrible plan in store, another mass Akumatization maybe? Maybe Gabriel was hoping for a third time's charm!

“Nooroo,” Gabriel started, walking around his lair with a careful, calculated look just barely masking the insanity that reared its ugly head a few moments before. “I have a question. It seems that Plagg, along with presumably the other kwamis are far more powerful without the constraints of their bearers holding them back, correct?”  
  
“C-Correct,” Nooroo stammered out, flinching a little. He had a very sick feeling as to what his master was about to ask of him. “I… I assume your next plan is going to take advantage of this? If I may say so Master, you may want to rethink this. If your plan is what I think it is? Namely, to use Tikki to use her Lucky Charm, might I remind you that you won’t be the only one getting good luck. For all you know, Ladybug and Cat Noir may suddenly receive a dash of inspiration and work out who you are! There are a multitude of things that could go wrong here.”

“Oh, my dear sweet little Nooroo,” Gabriel said, leaning in. “My plan isn’t to use Tikki or Plagg, my plan is to use _you_.”

“M-Me?” Nooroo stammered out, fluttering around the room nervously. “N-Now master, you may want to think about this!”  
  
“Oh, I’ve thought about this. For quite a while in fact! No more secrets, no more lies Nooroo so let me break it down for you,” Gabriel grinned, eyes wide and alight with insane desire. “Now tell me, what is your power outside your Miraculous! Explain it to me, in great detail!”

Nooroo didn’t want to, he wanted to fight his own magic but no matter how hard he tried it was futile. He felt violated by Gabriel’s order, and tried to stop the words from rushing up his throat and breaching past his lips. But in the end, it was an inevitability for him to truly explain just how powerful he really was.

“I… I can summon your most powerful Akuma, from any timeline. Normally this is… a last desperate resort, it drains me to summon a powerful champion and breach the borders of time and space. Please, don’t make me do this Master!” Nooroo pleaded, physically straining himself to try and stop what was coming.

“NO! Do it Nooroo, show me my greatest creation!” Gabriel ordered and then came the call. The very air rippled with magic and time and space began to bend. There was a low hum that filled the room, and the whole world gasped before Chat Noir, but not stood in front of them. The window exploded outwards, stained glass shattering from the wave of sheer magic created by his arrival.

“Hawk Moth?” said the cat in white. Chat Blanc, Gabriel quickly realized in a fit of glee. He had actually akumatized _Cat Noir!_ His other self had managed to accomplish the greatest akumatization he could think of! “...father, why are you…?”   
  
The words hit Gabriel like a hammer to the chest. His own son was…? Of course! Now it all made sense!

“Hello son,” Gabriel said trying to greet his progeny warmly. But all he was met with are eyes of ice. 

“...why did you do it?” Chat Blanc asked, his hands crackling with destructive magic. His voice wavered, sounding lost before it filled with a fury. “Tell me. WHY DID YOU TAKE ME FROM MY LADY?”

Gabriel barely had a chance to react in time, calling for his transformation and raising his cane to protect himself from the cat’s claws. He _very_ quickly realized he had to act fast. “I’ll give you your Lady back, son. As soon as I have…”   
  
“My Miraculous, yes,” Chat snarled ferally, striding towards Gabriel with a predatory gleam in his eyes. “All so you can make that damnable wish and bring back my mother!”   
  
And Chat rushed forwards, fist drawn back for a punch. Gabriel stepped backwards, dodging the blow and slammed his cane into his son’s gut making him nearly double over. 

“Yes, I need Emilie back!” Gabriel shouted. “Don’t you see son? With her back, we can be happy again!”  
  
“Don’t you see?” Chat Blanc laughed bitterly. Gabriel had to keep thinking of him as someone else and not Adrien. It made things easier. “That damned wish… It destroyed Paris! It destroyed all that I care for. But I still have her, my Lady. Once I find you… I don’t know why or how you’re still alive, _father_ but allow me to rectify that!” 

Too late, Gabriel had realized his mistake. He called for his lair’s missiles, but even these couldn’t stop someone with a God’s powers at their beck and call. Chat Blanc created multiple miniature balls of destructive light in seconds, destroying each of the deadly barrages. 

And then, came the fateful call. “MEGA CATACLYSM!” 

And then Gabriel knew nothing more.  
  


\-----

The entirety of the lair had been blown away, the manor’s hidden secret exposed wide to the world. The Moth brooch lay in the dust, his father now nothing but particles in the wind. He knew he should have felt _something_ at his demise, but his father hadn’t been a parent in years. Not since…

Wait, something was wrong. Paris! It was warm, the sun shone down and the world didn’t seem to be cold as death. And then Blanc’s eyes widened. Was it a dream? A delusion? It wouldn’t have been the first. His Lady had broken more than his heart when she left him. She’d broken his mind.

And yet… here, exactly as Adrien remembered it, was his city. Alive and well. Horns tooted in the streets below, citizens going about their daily lives as if nothing was wrong. Was it truly possible that…?  
  
He needed to know. Grabbing the Moth brooch, he ran for it.

Bounding across rooftops like he had done so many times before, Adrien quickly found a spot where Nooroo could emerge safely. It was a spot he and his lady had met so many times before, back when… No, don’t think of her! She broke his heart, she wasn’t worth acknowledgement.

Wiping away the tears as they came, he watched as Nooroo emerged from his Miraculous in a flash of light. He looked so sweet, so… innocent. Another victim of his father’s obsession. The words escaping his lips were barely a whisper, but they came nonetheless. “I’m so sorry for what my father did to you, Nooroo…”  
  
“Adri… Adrien?” Nooroo stammered out. “...oh my… Oh, I see. It seems Master… he truly has no limits to how far he’d go in achieving his wish. I feel for him, I really do. I understand what he’s after, but he’ll never understand just what it’d cost him.”   
  
“It’s already cost him plenty,” Blanc said, unable to stop himself from grinning ferally. And Nooroo understood.

“I was hoping his desires would never wind up backfiring on him, and he’d learn the error of his ways before then,” Nooroo sighed sadly. “But, alas, it seems my own selfish wish was in vain. I’m truly sorry, on behalf of my former holder, for whatever he may have put you through in your timeline.”  
  
“Why are you apologizing?” Blanc wondered. “It’s not like you created me!”   
  
“Ah, but I did. In that other timeline,” said Nooroo. “I am as much responsible for whatever happened as was that other Gabriel.”   
  
Far too many times, he wondered about taking revenge on Nooroo. Hunting him down and destroying his Miraculous for causing the chain of events that led to today. The loss of his Lady, the many villains created before then, and Paris’ destruction. But every time, he realized it wasn’t worth the effort. Everything was all his father’s fault, of course.

Why though? Why was his Lady such a coward to abandon Paris in her hour of need? What happened to the Marinette he fell in love with? Too late, he realized he was crying again. Numbly he realized that Nooroo was wiping away his tears. 

“I’m truly sorry,” Nooroo continued to apologize, soft and soothing even in the face of an utter monster. “I do not know whatever happened in this timeline, but if there’s any way I can send you back…”  
  
“N-No, please don’t…” Blanc croaked out, his voice weak and becoming increasingly desperate pleas. “No, no, no, no, no, no…”

“Oh…” Nooroo realized. “I… I see.”

The little kwami cuddled close, and Blanc wasn’t quite sure how long they stayed there reconciling their own losses. They’d both been harmed by Gabriel’s machinations, his insane desires. And now they were finally free.

“...how do I know this isn’t just another delusion?” Blanc wondered. “Another nightmare, and in a few moments I’ll awake to see Paris, cold and flooded?”

“Does this feel like any dream you’ve had before?” Nooroo questioned, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer.

“It… I’m not sure. I’ve had plenty of dreams over the past few months. All of them were bad. Some of them tempt me, just for a few hours. They make me think all is well, that my Lady… she’d still accept me after all is said and done. But I’m a monster! A MONSTER! She ran… she had every right to. I promised to protect her, and I killed her city. Oh god… I probably killed her!”

Blanc descended into more fitful sobs. Nooroo, unsure ofwhat to do beyond comforting him in soft soothing tones sang in a language long since forgotten. He tried to ease this broken cat into this new reality, cursing Gabriel for a world destroyed and a son broken, possibly beyond all repair. Months, apparently, without any support.

Damn. Nooroo knew how a Cat and a Bug operated. More often than not, with a few rare exceptions, they were soulmates. Lose one, and the other was irreversibly tarnished. And this poor kitten had been not just tarnished, but possibly ruined. 

There was a nagging question of course, something he had to ask the new Guardian. What now? There were two Cats now, one completely insane and with the powers of a God at his fingertips. What to do about him? 

Ideally, Nooroo wondered if they could coexist but the realist in him said it wasn’t likely. 

Oh, he hoped Ladybug got here soon. 

He needed help!  
  
Helicopters flew overhead, Nooroo was vaguely aware, probably investigating the destruction that the fallen cat had left in his wake. Gabriel’s legacy would be nothing but ashes now, quite literally. He hoped that this timeline’s Adrien -okay, this was going to get confusing fast- could handle it. Casting a nervous glance towards Blanc, Nooroo knew what the likelihood of that could very well end up being. 

He hoped when Ladybug arrived, that the new Cat in her life could handle it. And her him.

\-----

Today started off so great, a new commission from Clara Nightingale! And then things descended into chaos. The top half of the Agreste mansion, destroyed. And found in the rubble were the remains of a very distinct candy-cane tie and a little peacock brooch, untouched by the chaos.

 _Oh God_ , her poor kitty! Finding his father… like that, and on top of all that him actually being Hawk Moth…

They’d both suspected, long ago, but their fears turned out to be for naught at the time. At least, _at the time_. She should have suspected. She could see it now, Gabriel taking off the brooch and akumatizing himself. 

She hoped Gabriel was dead, otherwise after all he’d put her kitty through… she may very well kill him herself. 

Just _what_ had happened?

She called for her Lucky Charm, hoping it would lead her to some answers.  
  


\-----

It had long been a routine of his to look out for purple moths by now. Paris, like he, had rapidly learned to train their eyes to the sky.

Sometimes the moths came in blood red.

He hoped for a day they came only in white.

 _“Father… why?”_ Adrien wondered, bounding across rooftops. Any minute now, he expected to see a purple moth heading his way, wings of darkness corrupting an otherwise blue sky. _“...what could have led you down this path? Mom? Did her vanishing do this to you? Were you hoping for our Miraculous to bring her back somehow?”_ _  
_ _  
_ He remembered a conversation he and his father had just a couple of days before. His father wanted to tell him something. Back then, he thought it was him falling in love with Nathalie. Now though… Adrien wondered if his father wanted to bring him into his life of crime! _“So you’re waging war on Paris, for love? Is that it? Oh Father… We could have been happy! I want my mother back, but all I really needed this past year was_ **_you_ ** _! We still could have tried to be happy, you, me, the Gorilla and Nathalie!”_

A curse slipped past his lips, Adrien fighting back a sob. No moths yet, and maybe… oh God! Maybe there wouldn’t be any coming. He knew how it looked. There was a distinct possibility that…

Another muffled sob, Adrien finding himself wandering around the rooftop in a dazed haze still trying to reconcile prior events. 

And coming face to face with… himself?

This cat was pure white, black replaced with tones as cold as death. He looked like a spectre of himself, this… Chat Blanc. Adrien blanched, stunned. 

“Are you…?” he asked.

“...perhaps,” the other him said, approaching him and getting way too close for comfort. A pure white hand traced Adrien’s face, running down it. Adrien felt his skin ripple with an all too familiar form of magic. It was cold to the touch, smelling of rot and decay. “Or maybe you’re me.”

Noir faced Blanc, pulling away from him.

“Are you one of Mayura’s sentimonsters?” Adrien thundered, grabbing him by the suit. “Or are you one of Father’s akumas, a second Copycat sent to torment me?”  
  
“...or are you a delusion?” Blanc asked, laughing nervously, somewhat insanely. “I’ve had plenty of them by now. Maybe you’re a reflection of my past life, sent to guilt me. My Lady, are you there? Are you here to remind me what I’ve given up?” he shouted, calling out into the blue.

“Ladybug would never…” Adrien returned. “The peacock’s damaged! Putting it on, it might kill her!”  
  
And then another horrific realization. Nathalie’s cold… it had never been a cold had it? Oh God, she was Mayura wasn’t she? Adrien stumbled as it hit him, releasing his doppleganger actually feeling rather sick.

“...was it all a lie…?” Adrien wondered aloud. 

“Probably,” his double said. “Your whole life’s been a lie, you know. Our whole life. Welcome to Paris~!”

He spread his arms to the sky, gesturing to the city that had apparently caused him so much pain. Laughing sardonically, Blanc fell back against a chimney with a glint in his eye. Adrien wasn’t sure if he was going to break down crying or attack. 

“You had it good, you know,” the double said, still laughing. He sounded so… broken. “So naive, so blissfully unaware… Meanwhile, Chat Blanc? I’ve been such a naughty kitty! I’ve been so lost, but maybe… just maybe I’m found again!”

“What are you talking about?” Adrien demanded, in no mood for games right now. 

“Little kitty on the roof, all alone without his Lady…” said Blanc, his back to him and singing. “What’s new pussycat? Well, me, your whole life’s been turned upside down. Trust me, I know what that’s like. Have you reached the part where your father’s shown you your mother’s little tomb?”  
  
“...what?” Adrien gasped out. 

“...oh, so you don’t know,” said Blanc, looking back at him and looking actually sympathetic. “...I… I’m sorry. It seems I’ve been a bit foolish, spoiled things for you ahead of time. Oh well, now you know. Our father is scum. Surprise! Tell him what he’s won, Alice!”

Again, he laughed, sounding more broken with each passing moment.

“WHO ARE YOU?” Adrien demanded, wanting answers. And then Blanc pounced, throwing him into the roof.

“I’m you,” the other hero grinned ferally. “Just from the other side of the mirror.”  
  
The two tusseled, fighting for dominance for the next few minutes. Eventually, Adrien got the upper hand over the white cat, holding his baton to his neck. If he broke that bell of his, then the amok would be free, or maybe the akuma. Adrien had long given up caring which type of villain he was facing today.

But Blanc wasn’t done yet, shoving an elbow into his gut before whirling around to kick him in the face. Adrien caught the strike, grabbing ahold of his doppleganger by the leg. But then he saw them. Those eyes, filled with an all too familiar sickening loneliness. _“Oh.”_

\-----

And a few moments later, Ladybug found them. Her eyes widened, seeing her partner holding a sobbing Chat Blanc in his arms. And a little moth kwami floating about, eyes wide with worry. _“Today just got very complicated, didn’t it?”_

\-----

Marinette tried to tune out the news about France’s own anti-terrorist task force investigating the Agreste manor, it’d probably be a very long time before anyone forgot what happened here. She knew she and Adrien would have to be brought in to answer questions, both in-suit and in Adrien’s case out of it.

Hopefully nobody would ever figure out what really happened, as explaining what was going on was hard enough. Explaining a second Cat Noir, from a bad future, half-crazed and with the power of infinite destruction? Marinette doubted all of the good luck in the world could help her there!

She’d better hold onto her pigtails, and hope she could make it through this without sprouting a gray hair or two several decades too early. There was the obvious question, still lingering. What to do about Chat Blanc.

He was dangerous, and yet… stroking his hair while he rested his head in her lap, he seemed so peaceful. He’d dropped his transformation, and while his hair was still white as bone, he seemed almost normal. Two Plaggs floated above her head, one black and one white. Like yin and yang.

Marinette chuckled. _“Something tells me the world isn’t quite ready to handle two of them just yet!”_

“So what do we do now, Milady?” Chat, her Chat, pondered leaning up against the wall of her bedroom. The other kwamis fluttered about, nervously inspecting the scene from a bit further away, getting as close as they dared. Stompp and Orikko in particular were hiding out behind her dresser, only their heads visible. 

“...I honestly don’t know,” Marinette mused, casting a glance over to the twin Plaggs who were conversing in the ancient Kwami language. Every now and again, Tikki seemed to chime in with some suggestion of her own. What they were all talking about, she could only guess. “I mean, you could stay here, I’m sure my parents would be happy to take you!”  
  
“But what about… him?” Adrien pondered nervously, looking down to the sleeping Blanc in her lap. “We still have to explain him. Like, we can’t just say he’s my twin… can we?”   
  
“I mean, sure, it’s certainly possible!” Marinette mused. “We could say he was in a private school off in oh… Italy somewhere, your father keeping him away for… reasons.”   
  
“We’d still have to create some paperwork for him, birth records and the like! You can’t just dream up a real person out of nowhere!” Adrien pointed out.

“Actually you can,” Tikki chimed in, now resting in Marinette’s hair. “I can create papers for… well, I’ll let you give your double a name, Adrien. It’s a simple matter, Goddess of Creation and all.”

“We should ask him what _he_ wants,” Marinette pointed out, “For all we know, he could just want Bunnyx to take him back to his own timeline…”   
  
“Considering what he told me? Blanc, I mean?” Adrien said fussing with his hair nervously. “I doubt that very much. I still can’t believe father would go that far! ...actually, no, I can believe it! He’s always been hideously controlling, why am I not surprised that he’d Akumatize even me?”   
  
“Oh kitty…” Marinette whispered, still amazed she hadn’t broken down crying herself from the events of the day. She suspected once the adrenaline and everything else wore off, and the reality settled in, the tears would come. “...God, I want to just say everything will be okay but…”

“...you don’t think it will be?” Adrien sighed. “Yeah, this is just insane. Today’s just been insane, and it’s only going to get weirder from here!”

Nooroo slept soundly inside the Miracle Box, and Marinette made a note to retrieve his partner from police lockup sometime later.

Finally, the two Plaggs seemed to be done conversing. “Reached a decision, pigtails, kid. My duplicate and I? We’re going to fuse,” said Black Plagg, or Yin Plagg or whatever. Adrien and Marinette gaped. “Relax you two, nothing bad is going to happen so slow your roll. No need to get all worked up! We’ll just have each other’s memories, that’s all. As cool as two of me existing at the same time is, -no camembert would be safe!- it’d throw everything all out of balance. Too much destruction is a bad thing, needless to say.”

Yang Plagg nodded, his purple eyes giving a concerned look to his chosen. “Take care of the kid, okay? He deserves something nice coming his way for once, alright? I’ve been with him these past few months, and as awesome as I am… he needs actual human contact.”  
  
Kissing his chosen’s forehead, he smiled.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for, kiddo, okay? Maybe you’ll find some measure of peace.”  
  
And then the room was filled with a light, before Adrien spoke.

“...how about Antoine?”

\-----

A few months passed, and while the scars of Paris were not forgotten they were beginning to mend. 

Hawk Moth may have been long gone, but there were always new threats to take his place. New supervillains, ready to fill the void.

And old ones, vying for their piece of the pie.

“Nooroo, Wings Rise!”

Techno-Pirate had escaped again, and he wanted a taste of some Miraculous power. He’d need a miracle to get out of this one.

And Adri… No, Antoine listened, feeling Paris for the proper emotion. And then he found it, twirling his cane and sending a moth off to find a new champion. He’d gone from white… to purple. Now, about that new hero…

 _“Ronin…”_ he spoke. _“Cat Noir and Ladybug need your help. Are you ready, my samurai?”_   
  
Maybe he’d never have his Lady back, but he’d still have his city. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I engaged in some AdriChat. ...I'm so going to hell for that. Look, blame Keyseeker okay?


	5. Day 5: Memories

The memories came, as they always did. Gentle stirrings, of a time that he’d hope to forget. But stirrings of a time that made him and molded him into the beast of today. The nightmare of tomorrow. The abomination that would ring out in eternity for destroying a world.

“...your latest pictures are in Adrien,” said his father, placing a magazine in front of him. On it, as always, was him on the cover smiling a way too fake smile. Not that the public ever seemed to notice, or if they did, ever seemed to care. He was Paris’ golden boy, even if you asked him he was really fools’ gold. Everything was always digitally touched up, primed to be perfect. “It seems, once again, we are making waves in the fashion world.”

“Excellent,” Adrien lied, just wanting a normal life actually. Or… at least, wanting a normal relationship with his father. “...have you found Mom yet, Father?”   
  
“Sadly, no I have not,” his father sighed sadly. “It seems that wherever she’s gone, she has yet to re-materialize. If she ever wanted us to follow her, she is making it very difficult. There haven’t been any sightings.”   
  
“...why would she leave us, Father?” Adrien wondered, not for the first time. “Why… why would she leave me?”   
  
If her father noticed the heartbroken waver in his tone, he didn’t comment on it.

“Your mother… She has always been a stubborn person. When she got sick, she refused all attempts of mine to help her,” his father elaborated. “She wanted to look for cures by herself. Like always, she was a self-made woman and never asked for help. Even if… even if it would have been prudent to consider otherwise.”

If Adrien didn’t know better, he would have sworn his own father’s voice was wavering. But that was impossible right? It seemed that ever since his mother vanished, she took his heart with her. His father, in recent months, seemed almost… broken, dare he say. He’d almost become manic, obsessive in some ways.

Pouring his heart into the only thing he had left. His empire.

“...and not at the only thing that should really matter…” Adrien murmured to himself.

“Did you say something, son?” his father asked, barely looking away from a painting of a much happier time. When everything was normal, when their family was whole. 

“No… nothing father,” Adrien replied, his eyebrow raised. It had been a while since his father had called him ‘son’. “Nothing at all.”   
  
“Get cleaned up for dinner,” ordered his father. Ordered, yeah that was the right word. Everything seemed less like a parental request and more like a command nowadays. “I’ll have the kitchens prepare your food.”   
  
“Will you be joining me?” Adrien asked on his way up to the bathroom.

“I… am not sure,” his father admitted and his son’s heart sank. It wouldn’t have been the first time that his father failed to join him for even a simple family dinner lately. “We shall see.”   


Personally, Adrien doubted it.

That wasn’t the last memory that came to him today, there were plenty of others. Some pleasant, but not always.

“Once again, it seems Cat Noir and Ladybug have saved the day,” mused his father late one summer’s eve. Adrien had taken to notice that for whatever reason, his father never seemed to entirely approve of the two heroes. To never seem to approve of  _ him _ . “It looks like that Fire Rescue was an abject failure on Hawk Moth’s part. I surmised as much, really. He did not seem to be one of his better villains.”

“I didn’t know you kept track of every villain that Hawk Moth ever made,” Adrien admitted, surprised. It slipped out before he could stop it.   
  
There was a strange look in his father’s eye at this, really. Something that at the time, he could never  _ quite  _ place. “Only the ones that personally put you in danger.”

Oh yes, that had happened. In all of the chaos, Adrien had forgotten that his first real look at the villain -a fired firefighter under investigation for arson- had been when he was throwing fireballs at him. Wasn’t the sort of thing you honestly forgot, for most people, but by this point he’d been attacked by so many Akumas they all sorta tended to blur together.

“It seems that, if Hawk Moth and I were to ever meet,” his father admitted. “We would have words. He does seem to have a penchant for letting his akumas get out of control. To say nothing of the ones who target you personally for one reason or the other.”   
  
Adrien smiled, his father really did care. He didn’t show it well, but he tried his best.

“Cat Noir looked to be having the time of his life today,” his father observed. “Laughing like a fool, on the back of the akumatized villain’s quite literal, ‘fire truck’. He is always a bit of an idiot of course, but at least he had a plan this time. Destroy the truck with his powers. Quite ingenious. But did he have to take so long to do so?”   
  
“Well, maybe he was just enjoying the experience?” Adrien pondered, admitting his father may have had a point. “I’m pretty sure everyone loves riding on fire trucks!”   
  
“...yes, I remember now,” his father reminisced. Not something he did often, but he did engage in it from time to time. “...you liked them too didn’t you? Oh, the mansion, it used to be filled with the sounds of laughter didn’t it? You playing with that toy truck that you loved so much, mimicking a siren. You terrorized the cats! Emilie always told you to stop, but you never listened…”   
  
His father was actually laughing, and soon Adrien was joining in. 

“...oh, those were the days, weren’t they?” his father mused. “To bring back even a little bit of that happiness. That is why I must find your mother. So your heart can be whole again.”

Now, if only his father had explained the whole truth. Adrien doubted he could have handled it even back then, but maybe… just maybe he could have gotten away before things went so terribly.

...not that they weren’t always terrible.

“...I don’t believe your father!” Marinette nearly snarled at one time. “You’re so skinny!”

“I’m a model Marinette, I have to keep up a figure,” Adrien tried to protest, but his girlfriend…? His girly whirly girlfriend, -Adrien had to resist the urge to laugh in joy- she was having none of it! 

“Bullshit!” Marinette scoffed, in a rare usage of cursing for her. Her voice softened, looking near tears. “He’s starving you, My Prince! You’re way too skinny, like… God, I wish I could march up to that house of yours and give him a piece of my mind!”   
  
“No… no, please don’t,” Adrien protested. “I don’t think my father would appreciate that, please don’t rock the boat Mari. My father is already searching for an excuse to throw you to the wolves, please don’t give him one!”

“...if you say so,” Marinette muttered, not really sounding like she was really ready to leave it be and back off. “...it’s just, well… I was a superhero once right? Why couldn’t your father listen to me, former hero or no? He surely respects Paris’ heroes!”   
  
“...please, you’ve met my father right?” Adrien laughed bitterly. “It takes years for him to truly respect anyone. I don’t think he actually cares for Ladybug or Cat Noir, he’s always said they take too long to clean up their own messes and take too long to save me.”   
  
Marinette looked infuriated.

“...the nerve of that man,” she seethed. “He, Lila and Chloe should start a personal fan club for Hawk Moth if that’s the case!”

“...he’d probably be Club President,” Adrien joked and Marinette giggled. Little did they know how right he was, in hindsight. 

“Come on, enough musing about how crappy of a father you have,” Marinette said, back to her usual perky self again. “Luka and Kitty Section are waiting for us on the Liberty!”   
  
“You, uh, sure Luka is okay with us dating and all?” Adrien had to ask. “...given he dated you first? Before me and all?”

Marinette giggled. “It’s  _ Luka _ . He’s not going to bite your head off or anything!”   
  
“...yeah, you’re right!” Adrien laughed, realizing how silly he was being. “Sorry, it’s just… well, this is going to be incredibly awkward and all. Hey, you think we can set him up with Kagami?”   
  
“Look at you, a regular cupid!” Marinette laughed. “...and you know, I think I can kinda get behind the idea. Though… it’d better go better than the mess that was Operation Secret Garden!”

“What’s Operation…?” Adrien started, noticing the ‘interesting’ expression that was on his Princess’ face, Marinette seemingly cursing herself for something. 

“Something you shall never be finding out about!” his girlfriend hissed, blushing as red as Ladybug’s suit. 

And then the next memory came, as it always did. Every few days it seemed to show itself, as the world’s way of tormenting him. Punishing him for his horrible act.

It started off so simply, with an ingenious idea of how to find Hawk Moth. Track his butterflies. The traffic cameras of Paris would provide the solution, and those who operated them were all too happy to finally put an end to this nightmare.

Hawk Moth soon realized the storm that was coming for him, and sent out moth after moth. He akumatized someone into Catalyst and then came the swarm of scarlet. The skies were filled with a sea of blood, and fear echoed in the streets of Paris as it realized what was upon them.

The streets were silent, and then came the thunder.

Every hero, even ones with exposed identities came to battle along with a few new ones in tow. Second Chances were used, and mistakes corrected as the battle tore Paris in two. Everyone had always been hoping it would always end with a whimper, not a bang but that alas was not to be.

Then, out of nowhere, the sea of red faded. Catalyst vanished from battle, and that should have been a hint to Hawk Moth. The fight was over, it was lost.   
  
But he had one last ace to play…

They came crashing through the roof, both determined to finally win this battle. Tired, and sweaty, neither the Cat of Destruction or the Lady of Luck would give in. This would be a day long remembered in Parisian history.

...but for all of the wrong reasons.

“You're done, Hawk Moth! Give us back your Miraculous!” Ladybug shouted, so brilliantly heroic and so  _ beautiful _ . “It’s over! Your army has been defeated, Catalyst fled!”

There was a look of  _ something  _ in Hawk Moth’s eyes, something manic and that should have been their first sign. He lunged, his cane attempting to strike Ladybug in the heart. Cat Noir struck first, knocking the weapon out of his hands with his elbow.

“You know what they say. The wave of a moth's wing can set off a CATACLYSM!” he thundered, summoning his power and dark energy gathered in his paw. 

Hawk Moth grinned, something evil and something vile and something totally insane. “I would put that Cataclysm away if I were you...  _ Adrien.”  _

And then he moved, revealing what was behind him. A coffin, and inside that coffin…

“...Mother?” Adrien whispered as it all hit him at once. The lies, the deceit and the reality that he had been fighting his own  _ father _ . An anguished scream tore its way up from his throat.   


“I'm doing it for her, Adrien.  _ For you.  _ For us.” Hawk Moth… no, Gabriel Agreste elaborated, dark energy still pulsating in his son’s hand and that’s when everything became a sea of white.

He could have, he should have stopped him. He could have saved the world. Instead he destroyed it. And finally, the sobs started, only Chat Blanc remaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was honestly my *least* favorite chapter to work on, and you can kinda tell. My usual heart for writing simply didn't exist here. Not sure why.
> 
> Also, the fire truck bit is... well, I remember it being inspired by a one shot I read once on Fanfic but I've forgotten the name, if anyone knows what I'm thinking of please do tell me! I will be forever grateful.


	6. Day 6: Little Kitty On a Roof

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so uh heavy warnings apply for this one. Trigger Warnings: Thoughts of Suicide so... uh, you have been warned. You don't have to read this chapter.
> 
> Also, thank you to Enonimouse and Kizerain for the beta reading!

_ “Little kitty on the roof, all alone without his Lady…” _

This sad little tune echoed in the vast, but completely empty city. It had been sung several times over, a mantra against the onset of madness. Against the cold and the dark.

Chat Blanc shuddered as he looked out over the world of his own creation. It was… what was it? Mid-June maybe? He could never really be sure by this point. God, he’d lost track of what day of his eternal damnation it was by this point. The seasons no longer mattered really. Time lost all meaning in a dead world, one of eternal frost and flood. Concept of time lost.

At times, he wondered if any souls had escaped the catastrophe. It wasn’t likely, but he dared to hope that maybe, just maybe he hadn’t killed them all after all. Perhaps a lone traveler or two in the mountains of Tibet had managed to find safety, perhaps not. 

However, despite how much he wished for it in his heart, there was the reality. He knew it could not be true, otherwise they with all of their power? They would have come to Paris and killed him for him killing the world. They would have reversed this, gone back in time somehow, moved time and space to avoid what he had to live with. They would have  _ reversed him.  _ Hopelessness.

Sass and Fluff weren’t the only kwamis who could do that, right? No… he  _ was _ alone. And he was only strong enough to stand against that dark for a little while longer. Before he succumbed to madness. Maybe Bunnyx, bless her, was already plotting against this somehow. Working to find out just  _ how  _ the world had ended. 

Or maybe Alix had been caught up in the initial blast, so maybe there was no hope for anyone. Chat laughed bitterly, he’d stopped Hawk Moth but all it cost in return was the world. A consequence far more severe than whatever the wish would have asked for. He laughed dryly to himself at the irony. He’d slaughtered it with but a thought. Oh well, his father had always said he’d succeed him somehow. Chat just be he never imagined it would be like this.

He didn’t know what about his situation was so amusing, the hopelessness of it all maybe? He fought back another bitter laugh. Oh well, at least he got out of modeling!

Hard to book a gig when there were no photographers!   
  
Or no fangirls to eat up his latest photo.

_ “So what are you going to do now?”  _ said one of the old familiar faces, sharing a voice and a name but none of her old attitude. Out of the mist she appeared, standing strong. The voice was so sickeningly familiar, he found himself struggling to listen.  _ “Are you going to do it? End yourself, after ending the world? There’d be no shame in it, honestly. No one to find your body, and wail in despair. Not a soul to mourn the loss. Hell, who says there would even have to be a body? It’d be quick, and simple. Just a cataclysm to the heart. Or to the head, you don’t have to be picky.” _

It looked like Rena Rouge, shared a voice with Rena Rouge but it was so obviously not Rena Rouge. Alya would have never advocated suicide as a way out.

_ “...of course, you could sit and wait a bit longer, just to see what happens,”  _ said the faux fox.  _ “Maybe Bunnyx will arrive, before the changes to the timeline fully settle. Maybe she’ll bring the whole gang, Team Miraculous together again! Just for old time’s sake, maybe even Chloe will be with them. You know, despite throwing you to the wolves and all during the whole Miracle Queen fiasco. You’d certainly be worth the trouble! I’d gladly put you down!” _

“You’re already trying.” said Chat in reply. He knew he was holding conversation with empty air, but loneliness always drove him a little crazy anyways. Why should he expect this to be any different? Why not pretend to have a chat with someone long dead, just for the hell of it? He didn’t exactly remember when the hallucinations started, it could have been a few days ago or a few months. Time was an abyss after all. 

_ “Eh, true,”  _ agreed the forgery. Her form flickered in the mist; shifting as the illusion changed. What she might have looked like had Chat not erased that possibility. Her hair was longer, her body looking a fair bit more toned.  _ “You know, just a suggestion, but you really need to get better friends. I’m hardly the type of person you should talk to! I don’t even exist!” _

“...who could I even talk to?” Chat laughed bitterly, choking back a broken sob. “I killed them all!”

_ “Not all of it,”  _ mused the faux fox.  _ “ _ **_Maybe_ ** _ a few of the kwamis survived the end. They’re probably alone, cold, and afraid. I bet they’re huddled up, praying for someone to save them. They need a Guardian.” _

“...Guardian? Haven’t you heard, the world’s dead,” he scoffed. With a little maniacal laugh he said: “Extra extra, read all about it!”

_ “Your humor needs work.” _

“Well, I got plenty of time, nothing but, actually!” He sighed, “...Guardian huh, they really should be looking for someone to protect them from me I guess.”

_ “This is  _ **_for_ ** _ you, kitty,”  _ Rena advocated, her voice growing softer. Less harsh.  _ “Not just for them. As I said, you need a friend. One who isn’t… well, dead. Maybe you could weather the loneliness together. It’s worth a thought, though you don’t need listen to me. Most of my suggestions were about you killing yourself after all. It’s really not that difficult of a decision. Way I see it, you have three choices here. Namely, either go totally insane, die via your own hand, or maybe make a few new friends.” _

In hindsight, it really wasn’t that difficult of a decision. He set off towards his destination, swimming past the horrors of his own making, braving the glacier-chilled waters. But all too soon he arrived. And he couldn't go in. He nearly froze himself into a decision to his earlier dilemma before he got up the nerve to open the trap door and swim past her things; to find the box.

He was high above Paris, in what remained of an office block. The box, amazingly, had survived untouched. The floodwaters hadn’t damaged it at all. Even as he ran his fingers across it, the box still hummed with magic. And with life. His hands were shaking, trembling as he worked to open the box. 

“Do I even have the right?” he mumbled to himself. He was about to reintroduce the little gods to what remained of their world. They would probably hate him, not that he could blame them if they did. He hated himself. guilt and shame.

_ “Last chance to back out now,”  _ said his hallucinations, this time taking the form of another old friend.  _ “Dude, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Nobody would blame you.” _

Nino. so full of life and always with a rhythm. Now, the music had stopped forever, and the world now echoed in silence. Recounting all that he’s lost.

Was this his fate, to be damned forever talking to the ghosts of the friends he made in life? To spend an eternity in a form of purgatory?

No. It wouldn’t be. He opened the box, and light filled the room. 

And then he fled, shutting his ears to the sound of their screams. 

\-----

Chat didn’t know when (concept of time lost.) he finally mustered up the courage to face them. And as predicted, when he returned every one of them gave him looks of disdain. Some refused to even look at him, leaving when he finally arrived.   
  
“...sooooooooo…” Chat began, not really sure how to start. How do you, after all, apologize for the devastation that lay before them?

“So you are the apocalypse.” accused Sass. “You let Hawk Moth win.” 

“No no no no…” Chat whispered.

“His akuma…” Sass spat disdainfully. “Defeated the great Ladybug and Cat Noir.”

His fangs were bared, like a viper’s.   
  
“I am Cat Noir!”   
  
“Not anymore,” Sass remarked, with a withering look. “You’re an akuma now, a monster. A shell of the real Cat Noir.”

“...perhaps I am…” Chat admitted, he really didn’t know what he was expecting. For the Kwamis to accept their holders’ killer with open arms? “...for what it’s worth, I’m truly sorry.”

He plodded outside, again to the balcony and looked down. It was so tempting, he could easily climb over the ledge and fall. It would just take a few short steps and that would be the end of it. All he had to do was…

“Plagg, Claws In.” he said, and his costume subtracted. A small white parody of his kwami floated about woozily, once stained inky black. Plagg needed him, he would never abandon his only remaining friend. No matter how much his kwami hated him.

“...it’s okay kid,” said the God of Destruction, purring softly. “I’ve destroyed so much by this point, I suppose the world was inevitable really.”

Voices, tiny but still loud as thunder echoed from inside the offices. Adrien wanted to blot them out, just to tell them to shut up. He’d already had enough scorn. But then, he realized with a start, it wasn’t him who was being yelled at this time. He wasn’t the object of their ire.

“I don’t believe you!” Pollen shouted. “So what, we’re just passing out blame to akumas now, are we? Ladybug wouldn’t do it, so why should we? He didn’t mean to destroy the world, his damnable father here is at fault. Not him! I thought you knew better, Sass!”   
  
“But…” Sass started.   
  
“SHOVE IT!” Pollen screamed, Her voice echoed through the building, sounding far louder than someone as small as her had any right to sound. “...I… I don’t want to talk to you right now. I… I just can’t with any of you right now. I’m sorry..”

Another little presence was close to him now, he felt it more than he saw it. The little bee nestled herself in his bleached white hair.

“They don’t know,” she whispered. “They’ll… we’ll work it out. We’re still in grief, perhaps one day Sass will change his mind. Perhaps one day all of them will.”

And together they stayed, alone in a crowd.

\-----

It started slow, he would awake with a start, shivering from a horrible nightmare. However, Pollen and Plagg were swift to cuddle into his side. More kwamis came around, slowly but surely and soon the unbearable crushing loneliness wasn’t so terrible anymore. Pollen had advocated for him in secret, brought more of her kin to his side. 

“....awww shucks, kid, that mean, little ole Hawky? He’s gotten to the best of us,” soothed Ziggy, the little goat trying his best. “It ain’t something nobody should blame you for. And if anyone does, I’ll rightly be giving them what for!”

It was kinda hilarious. A hick kwami promising to rain down holy hell on anyone who dared hurt his new guardian. 

“Like, I got horns and between me, Plagg and Pollen? Nobody’s ever gonna get even the chance to hurt you ever again, ya hear? It’s like they say, church isn’t over till the choir stops singin’. Maybe you should slap my head and call me stupid, but here? We can be alone together, and if that don’t beat it all! Sass, he likes to think himself smart but at times? Well, I can rightly say he’s about as sharp as a mashed potato!”

Adrien laughed, the sheer ridiculousness of this entire situation finally catching up to him.

“Yes, uh, quite,” Longg agreed, in his own way. “Despite how Ziggy puts it, perhaps in not the most eloquent of ways, he has a point. We’re in this together now. And for what it’s worth, I am truly sorry.”

It was impossible for Adrien to hold back his tears

\-----

Slowly, but surely, a bit of sanity returned to all of their lives. They stuck together, friends in the wake of tragedy. No people to talk to, but they had each other and for a time that was enough. Any hope of fixing the world was now faint, but it always remained a persistent possibility. They could weather the cold, and brave the dark. 

“Ooooooooh, I can’t believe your father’s devotion could have ever gone this far,” Duusu steamed. “I used to think it was romantic! ...now I see I should have stepped in sooner, perhaps created a guardian beast of my own to stop him.”

“It’s not your fault, Dus,” Plagg shook his head, none of the other kwamis taking his change in color with little more than a raised eyebrow. He was still the same cheese-hoarding lazy cat they’d always known. 

Plagg went on: “You didn’t know. That… woman, she fooled you. She fooled me. She fooled us all.”

He could never quite bring himself to say Nathalie’s name, equally betrayed.

Duusu, consumed with emotion, broke down sobbing again. She was soon collapsing into Plagg’s arms with a wail of:  _ “I’mmmmmmmmmmm sorrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy!” _

Awkwardly, he hugged his sister tight until all tears were dry.

\-----

Eventually, one day, nobody knew when, hope finally presented itself in the form of a lady in red. Like the sun finally rising after a long night, the thaw came.

Ladybug, looking no older than Adrien had last remembered, suddenly appeared. She looked terrified, but equally determined. Ready to brave the apocalypse. 

Adrien hadn’t seen any hallucinations in years, and he knew what they looked like. This… wasn’t one of them. “Please, Princess…” he whispered, looking towards the Miracle Box where the kwamis sat in quiet contemplation. He croaked out his only request, “Save them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, uh, heavy topics here, heavy enough to have their own gravity field. Look, if you're feeling suicidal or someone you know is, don't hesitate to reach out. Contact your national suicide hot line. Please, never be afraid to ask for help.


	7. Day 7: Save Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thoughts of suicide here so Trigger Warnings do apply.
> 
> Also, again thank you to lady_rini_b3 and Enonimouse for the proofing. And no, I don't own the rights to Save Me. ...honestly, I haven't heard the song in years before this, not since Smallville was on the air actually. But the prompt words kickstarted this idea, and I knew I had to go for it.
> 
> There's someone else I have to credit, actually. [NOIRequin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26951191) and their wonderful fic, I just took the base idea and expanded upon it.

**_I feel my wings_ **

**_Have broken in your hands_ **

How many times had he seen the sun rise over this lifeless world? How many times had he been reminded of his eternal torment? The world was a blanket of white, an eternal freeze brought to you by yours truly. He laughed at the bitter irony of it all, how many times had he saved the world now? And yet he was the one to bring about it’s destruction.

Chat Blanc shuddered, not from the cold he had long grown used to, but from the horror of it all. You’d think that he’d have grown used to seeing a sight like this, a white world only broken by the flooded streets below. Time had long since lost its sense of meaning in this lifeless husk, this dark twisted parody of the planet. It was… oh, he couldn’t tell anymore. At his best guess, it was midway through the month of August. That didn’t mean the guess was accurate, it could have been late June or even early September. 

His day had started as it always had. Wake up, look out over the world and just hope and pray that one day… his Lady would return to save him.

It had yet to happen.

Some days he could feel himself drowning in his despair. Like he was sinking deeper into the water and he would never reach the surface ever again. Cliche-he knew, the imagery. Only, this time, there would be nobody to pull him to the surface.

Ladybug was probably ashamed of him, that was why she had run right? Just to get away from the monster that had replaced her partner. It would be so easy, he knew, to just end his likely eternal torment. The freezing waters would gladly wrap him in it’s dark embrace.

All it would take would be for him to just step over that ledge, one simple step. But then, he’d never been a simple kind of guy. Maybe he should do a swan dive! One last moment of showing off before the cold, and the dark. A final act of pride, a spectre of the man he had been.

Then a thought struck him.... Could akumas even die? Or were they immortal? It was a thought he normally wouldn’t even consider, but then… there were a lot of thoughts he normally wouldn’t be considering these days. He’d like to blow it all away sometimes, just like a blizzard. This world was a blank… sorry, a blanc slate to be rebuilt. If he found his Lady, maybe they could restart the human race. Be like Adam and Eve. 

...assuming she’d even want him ever again. 

It was a faint wish, one last hope against the rising tide that was his despair. A wish that, every night, he realized, drifted further from ever becoming true. He let out a choked sob. It was his fault. All his. He’d bitten into the apple from the Tree of Knowledge that his father had offered and the world paid the price.

**_I feel the words unspoken inside_ **

**_When they pull you under_ **

**_And I will give you anything you want, oh_ **

He wished the world would change, but it seemed locked in an eternal timepiece where, day in and day out, the skies were blue and the air was cold. It rained on occasion, to add to the bleakness of it all. He used to love the rain. Singing and dancing in the rain with his Lady on splattered rooftops.

Now, it was only a reminder of how he could never turn back time. He was trapped in this industrial wasteland. This unforgettable nightmare. At times, he pondered trying to escape Paris. Finding a boat and heading for another country, in a faint hope of finding something else out there. Maybe _someone e_ _lse._

It was probably some sort of bad joke to him. The world outside Paris, which was for a time _his_ only world, probably looked just the same. All cold and lifeless. Some, probably some hikers in Tibet had probably escaped the flood but most were now frozen, wasting away without anyone to even bury them. They would never even get their proper last rites. 

Another thing he’d ruined.

The nights were always silent. Chat remembered when he used to hear the sounds of cars honking and foot traffic and maybe even the odd bird or two. Now there were only his thoughts to keep him company. No birds, no people, no anything.

There was only the dark and the encroaching madness. A scream worked its way up from his throat and then it erupted. Chat, on instinct, flung a disk of energy and utterly demolished a rooftop. Not like anyone would mind, there's no one to mind about anything anymore. 

Nobody would hear him crying out his plea to the gods for someone to fix what he’d broken. Nobody heard anything anymore. 

A few more days passed, always without incident. _Always_ . Chat often found himself fading into long sleeps, awaking in groggy fashion and wistfully hoping the world had changed somehow. And he was always disappointed. Today the rains had come again and the sky was a dull grey. The clouds were dark and heavy, thick like smoke and as colorful as his soul. A perfect mirror image to how he’d always felt since the collapse. The rain pounded upon the white leather that was his suit, drenching him to the bone.

He recognized this rooftop, how could he not? It was ages ago in a simpler time where he tried to woo Ladybug. He could see the candles even now, could hear the softly spoken songs of romance. And he remembered that she, like now, had never showed. He was so used to disappointment. Perhaps, in hindsight, he should have seen this coming.

His Lady always ran from him. Why wouldn’t she? He wielded the power of destruction at his very clawtips. Who would want that? He was nothing but a failure. Anyone else would have stopped the world’s destruction, anyone else would have stopped his father. Anyone else would have held their Lady tight and never let her go.

**_You were all I wanted_ **

**_And all my dreams are fallen down_ **

**_Crawlin' around_ **

Humming a long forgotten tune under his breath he made his way to the baby grand he had… liberated from a penthouse. Other instruments lay around the room, Chat deciding to learn and play every one of them before he died. Something to stave off the boredom, fight against the insanity. Nobody would ever hear his masterwork, but the Avatar of Destruction would for once become a creator.

Some of these instruments once belonged to Jagged Stone, as evidenced by his signature etched into them. Chat was sure he wouldn’t mind, not like he could anymore. Another bitter laugh. His favorite artist in the world would never top any other charts, and the reason why was sitting here, holding his instrument!

Playing a few notes, he sprang into the song’s chorus with a painful wail.

**_Somebody save me_ **

**_Let your warm hands break right through_ **

Howls of despair erupted from his throat, frozen tears making their way down his cheeks with the sun at his back. It was slowly starting to set, dipping beneath the waters as white and blue began to change into orange and gold. 

He knew nobody would likely answer his prayer, his plea. But he would still keep at it, because what else was there to do? It was his last requiem, a funeral for the world that had once lived. Someone had to remember it, immortalize those who would never see another sunrise. He’d heard once that as long as you remembered someone’s name, they were never truly gone. If they left something behind, they were in a way, immortal. 

So he played, and he played, for those lost to the cold and he played to keep their memories alive. Maybe he’d killed them, but maybe he would resurrect them as well. His legacy would go both ways. He’d be remembered as a killer, yes that was true, but he’d also be the guardian of the dead and their legacies. 

Ghosts of the past danced around him, and for a moment he imagined footsteps from above them. Souls from heaven coming down for one last dance, to remember the good times. 

More footsteps. Dare he hope? Suddenly, Chat felt something in his throat as he realized he wasn’t imagining things. Racing upstairs, he saw the faint glow of a time portal and then… 

He laughed, it had to be a joke. _Of course_ only now would he see his Lady, when he’d finally managed some kind of inner peace. But at a closer look, was it really his Lady? Colors reversed, red spots on a black bodysuit. Instead of a ladybug, she looked like a harlequin. Bad luck given shape and form. A _misfortune_ to anyone who ever bore witness to her.

**_Somebody save me_ **

**_I don't care how you do it, just stay, stay_ **

**_C'mon, I've been waiting for you_ **

And then he realized. If _he_ could be akumatized, why couldn’t his Lady? But this wasn’t his Lady, at least not as he knew her. She was a ghost, a spectre of another timeline. Yet, all the same he looked at this as a second chance.

She was as broken as him. 

It was obvious why Bunnyx had placed her here. Better for her Paris that way. There was nothing to destroy here. Nothing worthwhile anyways.

Slowly, but steadily, he approached. Like a true cat, he slunk to her and then he whispered “Milady?”

**_I see the world has folded in your heart_ **

**_I feel the waves crash down inside_ **

**_And they pull me under_ **

**_And I would give you anything you want, oh_ **

She shrieked, and tossed him on his back. A dangerous insane glint was in her eyes, something he knew all too well. He’d seen it every time he looked in the mirror. She, like him, had been broken inside and had nothing left to lose.

“Get away from me!” she called out, sounding utterly done with it all. It was a voice of desperation, like she couldn’t imagine any of this being possibly real. “You’re not here! You’re just my mind playing tricks on me!”

Goblins erupted from her mind, creatures of bad luck created from her twisted powers. They swarmed towards him, Chat readying for battle. Easily, he destroyed them with his infinite destruction. Endless capabilities, the powers of a god passed only to one. 

“Well, I suppose it had to happen eventually,” said his Lady. “I’m seeing delusions now. I killed everyone, so why not have their ghosts come back to haunt me? Who's next? You’re showing me my partner, so maybe you Maman, or maybe you Papa?”

She cried a broken little sob, clutching her head as she fell against a wall. Black ooze erupted from her, tormented screams echoing from within as jagged ugly spikes erupted from it. More of twisted creation’s ideas. Once, they would have been playful, bright designs echoing from the mind of his Lady, but now they were nightmares given shape and form. 

“I’m not a ghost, Milady,” pleaded Chat. “Bunnyx brought you here for a reason, what was it?”  
  
“...so I could be damned,” said the Aku… no, his Lady. It didn’t matter what her name was, what Hawkmoth had given her. To him, she was only Marinette. “So I wouldn’t hurt anyone else. My world is nothing but misfortune now. I am it’s bad luck charm. A fitting name was given to me, Hawk Moth was always so on the nose right? He called me Miss Fortune, honestly he could give you a run for your money in puns, Chaton…”

 _“More than you’ll ever know, Milady.”_ thought Chat. _  
_ _  
_ “I was hoping this carousel of agony would end. That I would slowly forget and my heart would vanish,” she laughed, with no emotion in it. “Maybe it's a dream, maybe nothing else is real. I hope so.” 

Another broken sob, and she collapsed into his arms.

“I’ll always be here for you, Milady. Maybe I’m a dream, and maybe you are to me, but _I am never letting you go._ Not again. Not ever.” he promised her. 

And then she realized. Recognition filling her eyes.

“Chat!” Miss Fortune sobbed, for a moment she was simply Marinette again. Together they stayed, he holding her as she sobbed.

**_You were all I wanted_ **

**_And all my dreams have fallen down_ **

**_Crawlin' around_ **

Yeah, she was all he’d ever wanted, and now, despite all of his dreams coming to crash down around them… A miracle happened. Marinette had come back to him, despite all the odds! Maybe… just maybe, there was hope for the future.

**_Somebody save me_ **

**_Let your warm hands break right through_ **

“...if I could ask,” Chat approached the subject carefully, not wanting to frighten her away. This was his second chance and he didn’t want to waste it. Maybe… maybe he could be a hero again. Save his Lady one last time. “...how did it happen?”

Maybe that was too forward of him, Chat thought in a panic. Maybe she didn’t want to breach the subject just yet. She had just barely aroused from a nightmare and perhaps she didn’t want to be pushed back into it. 

He had to creep into this subject carefully. Otherwise he risked losing her forever. The sun had set, black returning to the world. The nights would always be colder than the day, a shattered moon no longer providing any warmth or any light.

Miss Fortun… no, Marinette cuddled into him closer, no fear at all of the white monster that sat before her. She should be afraid, he thought. He’d destroyed the world, he could destroy the universe. No, maybe he shouldn’t try this again. He might just destroy her.

Marinette, from the sounds of it would probably consider that a mercy. An end to her horrible suffering. Chat? He’d noticed the language she used to describe her very existence. A carousel of agony, she’d called her life. It was poetic, in a way, but horribly horrific as well. And sickeningly familiar.

During the first month or so of his damnation, he’d used similar descriptions as every day brought him closer to the edge. It was amazing that at no one point he’d just toppled over it. For a brief horrific moment, he wondered if he had. That this was all his punishment, seeing a ghost of his Lady Love. 

He pushed those thoughts away, Chat knew thinking like that only led to disaster. He brought destruction, ruin, despair to the world. Maybe it would punish him later, but he liked to think that _this_ was a light in the darkness. For all the pain and suffering the universe heaped upon him, that on rare occasions it could be very kind. This was his redemption. He hoped he wouldn’t squander it. That there wouldn’t only be darkness in this world of his. That maybe his reign over the dead would include just a bit of life.

“Little things at first,” Marinette admitted. “Here and there, just those daily stresses piling up. Schoolwork, the growing number of orders at the bakery, commissions, Lila…”

“I’d hardly call her a little bit of stress, Milady,” Chat joked and Marinette laughed darkly. 

“...no, she never was just a ‘little problem’,” she admitted. “Not that she’s anyone’s problem anymore! She was the first to go, you know? She was right in the blast zone, a victim of her own bad luck! I’d almost say it felt good, had it not been so horrifying…”

“Hey, it’s okay…” Chat whispered. “You won’t be able to hurt anyone ever again.”  
  
“Not even you?” Marinette looked up at him with watery eyes.

“I won’t let you,” Chat said before he could even stop himself, and quickly realized how that might have sounded. “W-What I mean is… We’ll make our new lives work, okay? Akumatized or not, you’re still you and I’m still me. Nothing has ever stopped us before, you know? And a little thing like Akumatization won't stand in our way.”  
  
“...I’m glad you’re so cheery,” Marinette drawled bitterly, her once bright eyes now dark with clouded emotion. Sky blue had turned into midnight indigo. “...I wish I could feel the same.”

“Can we…?” Chat pressed nervously.

“Continue?” Marinette finished for him, before nodding. Her azure eyes brimmed with tears, before she wiped them away. “...yeah, I think we can do that. Probably for the best. You deserve to know what a monster I’ve become at the very least.”

“You could never be a monster, Milady…” Chat whispered, kissing her forehead. She flinched a little at his cold touch, perhaps feeling the rot on his lips. Smelling the death and decay.

“Oh yeah?” Marinette asked. “Hawk Moth disagrees.”  
  
“Yeah, well, I think we’ve established that my father is cracked in the head!” Chat joked.

“Your father…?” Marinette’s eyes widened in surprise. Oh, he realized. So she hadn’t known. “...Oh Kitty, I’m so sorry! God, okay, uh… yeah, him I’m not sorry about killing. He deserved it, after all he’d done to Paris and to _you_ .”   
  
Behind every strong man, the saying went, was an even stronger woman. And nobody was stronger than her.

“...I bet I know what you’re thinking, that I’m the strongest woman alive right?” Marinette asked, before gesturing to her twisted parody of a suit. “...I think all of this proves otherwise. I never should have snapped at you Chaton, hell I don’t even know what it was about. Whatever it was, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I never saw the Akuma coming, it took control of me and ripped out my very soul. ...and Paris paid the price.”

She looked so utterly defeated, her once bright soul nearly snuffed out. Her suit reflected her state, the crimson reds of life having turned to the blacks of charred ash. Chat related his story, and together they stayed, no longer alone in their misery.

**_Somebody save me_ **

**_I don't care how you do it, just stay, stay_ **

**_C'mon, I've been waiting for you_ **

Somehow, Chat managed to scrounge up enough candles to repeat an earlier attempt at winning his Lady’s heart.

This time, he would not be sitting on that roof alone. His Princess would save him, just like she had so many times before. Soft, elegant music played from an old radio he’d managed to find and for a moment maybe they could create the illusion that all was right with the world.

“...you may have exchanged your suit of black for one of white, but you still really haven’t changed much Chaton,” Marinette said appreciatively, looking over the scene set before her. “You’re still my silly kitty.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get them alight,” said Chat. “But it’s too cold for that.”

“Hmmm, maybe…” said Marinette thinking hard and hoping she could create flames that didn’t destroy for once. But it was all for naught, as all she achieved were a few melted candles. “...yeah, I didn’t think so but it was worth a shot right?”  
  
“Hey, hey…” Chat tried to soothe her.   
  
“...why you’re putting up with me I don’t know,” Marinette muttered. “I’m the embodiment of bad luck now!”   
  
“So am I, and maybe that’ll cancel it out?” Chat pondered.

“Or maybe it won’t,” Marinette replied worriedly. “This much bad luck in one location, god who knows what our lives will be like now!”

“I’m sure they can’t get much worse…” Chat replied, with a touch of bitterness.

“Eh, true,” Marinette admitted, conceding his point. “So, you really think we can make it work? Our lives now, I mean?”

“Like I said, you and me against the world Milady?” Chat said, gripping her hands in his. “We’ll always come out on top.”  
  
“...well, when you get like that, all determined,” Marinette commented with a little laugh, no bitterness whatsoever. For a moment, her old self dared to peek through. “Who am I to say no? I’ve missed you Chaton…”

**_Somebody save me_ **

**_I don't care how you do it, just stay (Stay with me)_ **

**_I made this whole world shine for you_ **

“And I’ve missed you… Milady,” he responded in turn, gently pressing his forehead to hers. Under the broken moon, they swayed and felt just a little bit of hope again. That spark of life, it threatened to grow into an inferno. “...I… I was lost without you!”  
  
“And now you are found,” Marinette replied with a loving smile and though her touch was tainted, even as she ran a hand down his cheek he couldn’t find it within himself to be afraid. The exact opposite was what he felt. Chat felt like jumping for joy. She was back, his Lady was back! “And I promise, as long as life fills my bones and blood rushes through my veins, I will never leave you again.”   
  
Wrapping her arms around him as he pulled her closer, they kissed under darkened skies. They knew where they were, not needing any light to find each other. Their souls had been bound long ago, they both knew it. Their kisses were messy, sloppy and needy with want after being apart for so long.

Finally pulling away, their eyes met as they returned to their dance. Chat dipped her, bad luck be damned. He, despite what he embodied, was no longer wanting to believe in such things. After all, if he, the very essence of bad luck, could receive something good… Well then, that said it all.

“I… I wish I had a ring, you know,” Ch… No, _Adrien_ said to her. “...I can’t make it official or anything, like I wanted to. Like I know you want to.”   
  
“Silly kitty,” said Marinette cupping his face. “We don’t need rings. Not for this. As long as we’re together, that’s what matters.”   
  
He spun away, before pulling her close with his tail wrapping around her waist. “But… but I’ve always had this dream, of us, getting married in a church. Me, placing your ring onto your finger, and you doing the same with mine.”   
  
“Yeah, well, dreams sour, don’t they?” Marinette mused, that bitter chuckle back again. “...besides, have we ever needed anything like that? We’re soulbound, Kitty. We’ll be together till the end of time. Rings.... Pffft, they pale in comparison to _that_ , love.”

“...well, when you put it that way?” Adrien replied with a wily, cat-like grin. “...who am I to argue?”  
  
Marinette flicked his bell with a little giggle. “I think we both know who wears the pants in this relationship kitty. Put it this way, they aren't the leather ones.”   
  
They’d fallen into an old familiar song, their rhythm of teasing each other and laughing all about it afterward. It wasn’t a song that Adrien had heard in a while, but he welcomed it when it returned. 

“...I’m truly sorry that I wasn’t able to be there for you, you know,” Adrien said to his Lady. “That your Adrien couldn’t help you when it counted. That _I_ couldn’t help you when it counted.”

“Oh Chaton…” Marinette said kissing him again, softly and sweetly. But still with a trace of hunger, like she never wanted to let go. And considering the situation, who could blame her? “I always knew you’d come running back to me. I never lost hope. We always manage to find each other, don’t we?”

“Yeah, we do…” Adrien said, now with renewed hope. That spark had returned to him and maybe… just maybe it would stay lit. It had the potential to blaze into an inferno, and with each passing moment that potential grew. And for the first time in a long while, a smile etched itself onto his face. “...This world may be dead for everyone else, but maybe, together we can make it liveable for us?”

**_Just stay, stay_ **

**_C'mon, I'm still waiting for you_ **


	8. Day 8: Bonus Day

They never saw it coming.

_“Miss Dupain-Cheng, your relationship with my son is detrimental to the Gabriel Agreste brand. I demand that you stop seeing him at once.”_

Fury. Protectiveness. Love.

“But... I didn’t do anything.” Marinette pleaded, Tom vaguely aware of this. He knew he should have been watching his daughter, watching the skies for black little moths. But no, he was too laser-focused on the man… no, the coward in front of him. He couldn’t even be bothered to come down here himself?  
  
Finally, he erupted. In hindsight, perhaps, someone should have been watching the skies _for him._ “She loves Adrien and Adrien loves her! You can’t stop them—”

_“If you refuse, I will not hesitate to withdraw Adrien from school, and he will never see his friends again.”_

Marinette’s tray fell to the bakery floor with a clattering sound, freshly baked macaroons spilling everywhere. She gave out another cry. “Adrien doesn’t deserve this!”

If Tom didn’t know better, he would have _sworn_ that abominable man actually had the gall to _smirk. “Then make the right choice.”_

In one timeline, this whole exchange would set off a disastrous chain of events that would lead to a monster in white. But this was not that timeline. 

Tom turned his laser-focused rage, his _protective fury_ on Natalie. Again, his thoughts clouded with rage, just barely kept under control. That man, again he thought, couldn’t be bothered to come down here himself? So instead he sent his assistant. “Get out of my bakery! _Now!_ ”

If Natalie looked a bit nervous, well good for her.

“...I…” his daughter whispered, just barely fighting back a sob. “...I don’t understand what I even did wrong, why would Mr. Agreste even want to do this? Like, I knew he was _bad_ but this... This is…”   
  
“I don’t know sweetie,” said her mother, beating Tom to it as she pulled her in for a hug. “...that _man_ … well, I don’t understand him either. I don’t think any of us do.”   
  
“So… should I break up with him?” Marinette asked. “...like, stage a public break up, and maybe we could date in secret h-hopefully without Mr. Agreste f-finding out?”   
  
“No, dear,” Tom said. “We won’t let it even get that far. That horrid man cannot be allowed to do this, why he wants to control his son’s life is beyond me but this is where it stops. We’ll work something out, I promise. You just call Adrien when you can, okay? He’s bound to be worried, chances are his father already told him what he planned to do.”   
  
“...of course he would,” Marinette seethed, her earlier worry and heartbreak replaced by a searing protective rage. That old Cheng spirit was back in her eyes. With a bitter laugh, she remarked: “...because it’s all ‘for the brand’ right? Mr. Agreste must think I’m some kind of harlot, he probably had his little snitch spy on me and Luka when we were dating!”

Tom would ask what she meant by that later, but that was for another time. Right now they had to deal with the current situation.

They all knew that they were going to be in for the long haul on this one. But it would be worth it, Tom knew as he looked at Sabine. Her hand was hovering near the phone, as if mulling over the possibility of calling that man back and telling him just what she thought of her daughter ‘being detrimental to the Gabriel Agreste brand’.

With every passing second, the urge seemed to be growing. Would Gabriel even pick up? Probably not, it would be his secretary that answered. She’d get an earful. They’d probably be given a lawsuit for harassment, though honestly Tom was considering filing one as well. It would be expensive, but it would be worth it. It was for their _kids_ after all.

Kids, as in plural. Tom didn’t quite know when, but Adrien had found a way to worm himself into his and wife’s hearts. 

How that sweet kid came from the Agreste household would be a riddle for the ages. 

_“...You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they’ll turn out to be heroes, even if it’s just in your own eyes. Shame Mr. Agreste didn’t seem to get that particular memo. Or if he did, he more than likely trashed it,”_ Tom thought to himself, his earlier rage subsiding and replaced by love for his kids.

Sabine’s thoughts were running along similar lines. She knew _exactly_ what Gabriel was doing, his official reasoning be damned. His ‘official reasoning’ was a complete and utter crock of shit. He just wanted to control his son’s life, no matter who got hurt in the process.

Oh, she had heard plenty about Gabriel Agreste. World-renowned designer he may be -though honestly, if you asked her, her Baobei outclassed him in that regard- but he was a terrible excuse for a human being. 

Though Adrien had always been too polite to say it, or worse perhaps too in denial, Sabine knew his father didn’t care one inch for his well being.

After all, she reasoned, who made sure he was fed? (Not Gabriel, his son always looked way too thin, model diet or no.)  
  
Who made sure he was happy? (That would be Marinette, and his friends.)   
  
Who asked him what his day was like? (It certainly wasn’t Gabriel Agreste, that was for sure! Once again, her daughter excelled where Adrien’s father failed utterly.)   
  
Sabine had been there from day 1, and she had watched Adrien grow into a fine young man. Far better than his father probably ever was at his age.

And she would be _damned_ if she just stood by and watched _Gabriel Agreste_ utterly _ruin_ the one good thing he had ever made.

“Go and wash up for dinner dear,” she said sweetly to her daughter.

“But Adrien…”  
  
“Relax, me and Tom will take care of everything,” Sabine reassured, and one look into her eyes told Marinette that she was right. “Don’t you worry.”

  
  
\-----

Marinette took the first chance she could for a run around Paris, it had always made her feel better in the past. Taking in the bright city lights of the city she so loved, feeling the wind brush past her face and hearing the honks of the car horns below.

Imagine, this was the city Adrien could be seeing every day if not for his father. She choked back a bitter sob. Her love was suffering so, and despite she with all her power could never do a thing to help.

She could fix the city with her Lucky Charm, and yet she couldn’t fix the relationship between Adrien and his father. It was such a bitter irony that she was well aware of.

Hopefully, her Chaton would be out tonight. She needed someone to talk to, after all.

Luckily, fate answered her pleas. Though not in the way she would have ever expected.

Her yo-yo beeped, and she blinked as she recognized the cell number. Well then! Honestly, Marinette had never been truly _angry_ with Chloe, just… disappointed. Even at her worst, Chloe had simply been a product of her parents’ upbringing. Maybe she was biased, given what she saw with Adrien, but Marinette never could never find it within herself to be truly angry with Chloe. 

Besides, there were much worse people in the world these days. So, however nervously, she answered the call.

 _“Oh, thank_ **_god_ ** _you answered, Ladybug!”_ Chloe said, her voice sounding hollow. Like she had been crying. _“It’s Adrien, okay? I’m worried about him! It’s… yeah, it’s his father, he’s done something, I just know it. He isn’t answering his calls, and oh I know we haven’t had the best of history, Ladybug, but can you…?”_ _  
_ _  
_ So she did know, or at least guessed that Gabriel did something. “Don’t worry Chloe, I had heard from… a friend that Gabriel was being an ass again. I planned to go check on Adrien anyways.”   
  
_“Thank you Ladybu… no, Marinette.”_ _  
_ _  
_ Marinette’s voice caught in her throat, her whole body seizing up. How could Chloe have possibly known…?   
  
_“Oh, don’t play dumb, Marinette. I’ve had my suspicions for a while now, after all how many bathroom breaks could you ever take? Right on Akuma attacks at that? It’s amazingly, and utterly ridiculous that Cesaire hasn’t worked it out, and she calls herself a reporter!”_ Chloe scoffed. _“...but yeah, you’re Ladybug and I feel like an idiot for ever betraying you._ **_Of course_ ** _the most ridiculously sweet girl in the class would be the Hero of Paris. Not quite sure how you and Multimouse were able to be in the same place at once, I haven’t worked that one out quite yet but give me time! Just… be careful okay LB? Go visit your Prince, I’m sure he needs his Lady right now.”_ _  
_ _  
_ With that, she hung up. After that weirdly enlightening conversation, and Chloe’s blessing, she ran onwards bounding across rooftops. And despite not being her Prince, her loyal partner was right beside her.

“...you okay LB?” Cat asked, seeing the look on her face.

“...no, I’m not. It’s… well, it’s my civilian life okay?” Marinette admitted, before quickly realizing she was going to have to be as vague as possible about this. “...something’s just come up.”  
  
“Is this about that Agreste kid?” Cat asked, and for a moment Marinette choked wondering just _how_ Cat knew already. Did Chloe call him first? ...did she blab that she knew her identity to _Cat?_ Save face, save face! “...like, I know you’re not dating him and all, that lucky girl Marinette got to him first but I’ve always kinda suspected he’s been ‘that other guy’.”

Cat looked amused for a moment, as if there was a private joke that she wasn’t privy to. 

“...yeah, uh, kinda,” Marinette admitted. “It’s Chloe, okay? She called me, terrified.”  
  
“...Chloe called you? I thought she hated you?” Cat questioned, his eyes blinking slowly in confusion. 

“...yeah, well, apparently I guess her hatred of me pales in comparison to how much she cares for Adrien,” Marinette admitted. “...it’s weird, I know. I mean, after Miracle Queen I never actually _hated_ her but this… yeah, this is a bit of a thing now I guess.”   
  
She rubbed the back of her head, before continuing.

“Apparently, Gabriel, damn him, he’s done something terrible. I’m not sure what, exactly, Chloe doesn’t know either but she’s _terrified_ . Like, she actually asked me to go check on him. Adrien, I mean. Not Gabriel. ...though I wouldn’t be remiss to check on Mr. Agreste, if only to punch him in the face.”   
  
Cat gave her a weird look.

“...moment of weakness okay? I’m only human!” Marinette admitted.

“I worry about that Agreste kid,” Cat admitted. “I’ve been checking up on him, and his father… oh, I don’t know. We may have excluded him from the list of potential Hawk Moth suspects, but he’s not a great person.”  
  
“...no, he most certainly isn’t!” Marinette practically _growled_ remembering the night’s events. She’d never felt so scared in her life, so utterly helpless… If her papa hadn’t stepped up! Oh, she could see what she might have done in her head now.

 _“Adrien... I... forgive me, we're just... we're just not right for each other.”_ she would have said, tearfully, after walking up to the gates on a cold and rainy day. The weather would have reflected her emotions, like a movie.

“...are you okay?” Cat asked, concerned and Marinette quickly realized he was checking the night sky for moths.  
  
“I’m not going to get Akumatized, Cat!” Marinette said to him.

“How do you know you won’t?” Cat asked. “You’re only human, Mar… Milady.”  
  
But Marinette had caught his slipup, no matter how quickly her partner tried to correct himself.

“...how do you know that…?” she whispered, barely able to get out the words in her shock.   
  
“Oh,” Cat realized, before taking a deep breath. “Plagg, Claws In.”   
  
And there, beneath the mask and the black leather suit was the embarrassed face of her Prince.   
  
“...oh.”

  
\-----

For the record, Marinette had her suspicions on how Alya picked up the story. Not that she _minded_ of course, it’s just she never expected her mother to use Alya as her secret weapon! Oh well, it was a true _tragedy_ for Gabriel. 

_“....well, uh, yeah, sorry to give you such a heavy topic today, Bugheads, but I just got some information that I think you all need to hear. Gabriel Agreste is a fuck! Like, I’ve known for a while now what a terrible person he is, but this is something else!”_ _  
_ _  
_ And there, in all of its glory, was the CCTV footage from the bakery. Complete with audio. Her mother had always said it would be worth the expense. She was right, as always. It really spoke for itself, damning Gabriel to the eyes of the public. 

_“Now, you may be asking why I’m even doing this. ...well, aside from Marinette being Multimouse, as a few of you may recall, she and Adrien are also my best friends. And I’ll be damned if I just stand by and watch this happen! This is a warning Gabriel, stay away from my best friends! Let them be happy, okay? You worry about your designs, let us worry about our relationships.”_ _  
_ _  
_ Instagram blew up, almost instantly. The site actually went down for a minute, and Trixx was laughing at his former holder breaking the internet. 

**_MossGrowsOnARollingStone:_ ** _How totally un-rock and roll! I, for one, will be never be buying from Gabriel again. Not if he wants to interfere with my niece’s life like this! Besides, she does much better designs anyways, like my awesome shades! #YouWorryAboutYourDesignsAndLetUsWorryAboutOurRelationships_

 **_Alya.Ladyblogger:_ ** _Well, I for one intend to stand by my best friends. Also, @BestFox, your boss is an asshole, so shut up and stop defending him. #YouWorryAboutYourDesignsAndLetUsWorryAboutOurRelationships_

 **_TheOfficialChloeBourgeois:_ ** _How utterly ridiculous that people think you can’t date each other. What does it even matter to Mr. Agreste? ...of course, it’s ‘for the brand’ isn’t it? Buzz off, Gabe! Otherwise I’ll sting you! #YouWorryAboutYourDesignsAndLetUsWorryAboutOurRelationships_

 **_GuitaristOnABoat:_ ** _Totally uncool, it is really rather overbearing. I pity you Gabriel, your heartsong must be out of tune. Marinette is a good friend, leave her alone. #YouWorryAboutYourDesignsAndLetUsWorryAboutOurRelationships_

 **_Sk8erGurrrrrrl (Aro Rep for the Win!):_ ** _Wow, just… uh, wow dude. I apologize to the @AdrienAgresteBrand, your father should go eat a bag of dicks. A huge one. #YouWorryAboutYourDesignsAndLetUsWorryAboutOurRelationships_

 **_DragonForADay:_ ** _I’ve been talking to my mother, she’s very displeased with you. And so am I, for that matter. I never thought you so petty. #YouWorryAboutYourDesignsAndLetUsWorryAboutOurRelationships_

 **_TheCatIsBack:_ ** _Normally I don’t get involved in teenage relationships, but I hope you know you could have gotten a former holder akumatized. Marinette was one of the best this team had, she saved me. So leave her alone, and @AdrienAgresteBrand as well! #YouWorryAboutYourDesignsAndLetUsWorryAboutOurRelationships_

The tag was one of the top trending ones for a week. 

Gabriel nearly screamed when he saw it. Slamming his hands on his desk, it shook in his rage. His hands were shaking as well, as he thought: _“The nerve of those brats, don’t they know I’m just trying to look out for my son? He has an image to maintain, and he can’t be seen gallivanting off with those hooligans!”_

He had to get a handle on this, maybe draw up a press release to soften the blow? Now where was Nathalie? 

“I… I wouldn’t pursue this any further, Master,” Nooroo suggested, fluttering over his shoulder with eyes alight with concern. “...you may end up making things worse for yourself in the long run. Just let your son date who he wants. It is really rather harmless compared to what else he might be doing!”  
  
“He is my son, and whatever he does reflects on me! He should not be dating a baker’s daughter,” Gabriel practically snarled. “He should be dating the Tsurugi’s daughter, though apparently given my son’s appalling behavior she nor her mother want anything to do with me.”

“His behavior?” Nooroo drawled in another rare moment of bravery. He raised an eyebrow. “...are you sure it’s not-”  
  
Whatever he had to say was cut off by Gabriel’s next demand. “Nathalie?”

Of course, as everyone knows, Fate will often find another way to kick you in the arse.

“What is this?” Gabriel demanded, eyes wide as Nathalie slammed a sheet of paper on his desk. He swore he could hear a stifled laugh from Nooroo, the little traitor. “...what is going on?”  
  
“This is my resignation letter,” she said, Nathalie’s voice colder than normal. Truly, she was living up to her last name! “When I signed onto this job, I did not expect to be hurting your son. And that is exactly what I am doing, when you sent me over to that bakery to tell that young girl to break up with her boyfriend. Who, as I should point out is the happiest he’s ever been in months!”   
  
“He is my son, whatever he does…” Gabriel started.

“...reflects on the brand,” Nathalie finished. “Funny, it seems forcing a teenager to break up with his girlfriend also reflects on the brand. I’ve been with you for a lot of things, Gabriel and been party to some things that my heart told me was wrong but you have finally gone too far. He’s never been your son to you has he? He’s always just been another priceless possession, an object to keep under lock and key. I’ve been such a fool, I never realized that until now but you’re become as obsessed with ‘protecting’ the boy as you have been gathering the Miraculous.” 

Nooroo’s jaw was open wide, stunned as his holder. And then, Nathalie ripped off the Peacock and tossed it at Gabriel, Nooroo catching the precious item in his hands. With a brokenhearted look, Nathalie left with only a comment of: “Goodbye Gabriel.”

\-----

The news broke the next day. All the headlines read: **_“Gabriel Agreste under investigation for child abuse and neglect!”_ **

Tom smiled as he watched his kids play a round of Ultimate Mecha Strike 3 on the couch, thumbs like lightning as the young couple gamed.

“You should really try Tom Style, boo-yah!” he said, as he leaned over.

“...where do you think I learned my mad skills from Papa?” Marinette asked, kissing his cheek. “Marinette style, oh yeah!”

Laughter filled the living room and Tom walked off with a smile. These moments, well these were exactly why he intended to protect these kids. His kids. 

When Gabriel chose to make that decision, to treat his son like an object instead of his kid… well, Tom knew he had to step up. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened?  
  
He’d received an odd thank you, earlier that week actually, from a red-headed punk-rocker type he’d seen at parent teacher meetings. Always introduced themselves as Alix’s auncle. They said to him, while in passing: _“Thank you for what you did, you’ll never know how much you saved Adrien.”_

Then there was a knock at the door, and Sabine called out to him: “Tom, come down here please?”  
  
She sounded worried, and for good reason as it turned out given who was at the front door.

“I thought I asked you to leave,” he said to Nathalie, whose normally pressed suit looked a bit ruffled and her hair a bit out of place. “If you’re here under Gabriel’s orders…”  
  
“I… am not,” said Nathalie, taking off her glasses and rubbing her tired eyes. “...I am here for myself, I have recently handed in my resignation letter to my ex-boss. I saw which way the cards were tumbling, and I myself have recently had a crisis of conscience.”   
  
“...why should we believe you?” Tom asked.

“Tom, look at her,” Sabine said, gesturing to her ruffled pants suit. “She does not look like a woman who… that _man_ would want to see in his employ.”   
  
“All the same dear…” Tom replied, worriedly.

“You do not have to believe me,” said Nathalie. “I don’t expect you to.”  
  
“So why are you here?” Tom wondered. “To inform us of your unemployment? You could have just done that over Facebook.”   
  
“I am here to see Adrien,” said Nathalie and at the couple’s looks she quickly explained. “...I… the only reason I stayed with Gabriel for as long as I did was because I loved him. But unfortunately I saw him turn into the shell of a man he once was, and knew my affections would all be for naught. He doesn’t care about his son, nor does he care about me.”   
  
Her voice was shaking, and you could tell she was trying to hold back tears. 

Reluctantly, Tom let her by. 

“...Nathalie?” Adrien whispered out, as Marinette let out a sharp gasp. “...what are you doing here? Are you…?”  
  
“Here on your father’s orders?” Nathalie replied, before shaking her head. “No. I just came by to tell you how truly sorry I am. But before I step out of your life entirely, would you permit me one last talk?”   
  
And Adrien smiled. It was the least he could do. “Sure.”

Meanwhile, life only got worse for one Gabirel Agreste. Adrien’s bodyguard, without a word, had handed in _his_ resignation as well. No doubt swayed by his son’s ‘charms’. This was getting out of hand.

“I did warn you,” Nooroo commented hovering above his head, the house quieter than ever without any of his staff. “I did say if you didn’t back off, you may end up making things only worse for yourself. I have said it time and again, your obsession would cost you dearly. But again and again, my pleas have fallen on deaf ears. I know you won’t listen, but I ask you again, please give up your quest.”  
  
“NO!” Gabriel shouted sharply, his voice breaking. “Not until I have the Ladybug and the Cat in my possession, then I can bring back… her.”   
  
His voice wavered, and for a moment you could see the broken man, the grieving husband instead of the monster that he had become.

“Did you ever think…” Nooroo considered. “...that maybe all you needed was your son?”  
  
And then, the moment was gone and Nooroo found himself without a mouth. _“Alas, I tried. But as ever I am ignored. A pity really…”_ he thought with a shake of his head.

For a moment, Gabriel thought about akumatizing himself and maybe that the Collector should make a return. Maybe he should retrieve his son himself, but if this thought was to be entertained any further it was never allowed the chance. For there came a knock at the door.

“Mr. Agreste?” came Officer Roger’s voice. “We’d like to talk to you, we’ve been receiving a few concerns from a Mr. Tom Dupain-Cheng about your son’s home life.”  
  
...ah, he’d been expecting that. Thankfully, he came prepared. Adjusting his tie, he greeted the gendarme and his cohort as cordially as he could. 

“Hello? If you could, can you come back another time?” Gabriel requested. “I am very busy at the moment, actually. I must continue drawing up this season’s Fall lineup.”  
  
“Too busy for your son it seems,” said the second man, in a nice suit. “I’m Mr. Andre Bernard, with Child protection and Welfare services, Aide sociale à l'enfance or ASE. I’d like to talk to you, actually.”

“...oh,” Gabriel said, sounding weaker than he’d actually have liked. _That_ he should have seen coming. _That_ had cracked his stony mask. “...come in.”   
  
“Your son tells us,” said Mr. Andre Bernard, with Child protection and Welfare services, Aide sociale à l'enfance. “A great many things actually. Some of which we find very interesting. Apparently, you’ve broken a few child labor laws, Mr. Agreste. A person under sixteen may not work between 8 PM and 6 AM and as I understand it…”   
  
“They are always scheduled no later than 6!” Gabriel shouted, somewhat desperately.   
  
“But apparently, they frequently go into overtime and more to the point, do so _unrecorded_ as noted by Mademoiselle Sancoeur,” said Andre. “Which, as we must remind you, is quite illegal.”   
  
Nathalie, she’d turned on him? Too late he realized he’d said that out loud.

“Oh yes, quite,” said Andre with a shark-like smile. 

“We’d like you to come down to the station with us,” Roger said, holding out a pair of handcuffs. “Would you walk with me please?”

It was a stupid desicion, in hindsight. One made out of desperation, and want as a lot of stupid desicions often are.

And yet he made it anyways. “Nooroo, Dark Wings Rise!”  
  
He flew out into the night in a flash, Roger radioing for backup but Hawk Moth not caring. He _had_ to get his son back. Before it was too late.

\-----

Police sirens wailed, spotlights seeking him out as he stood atop the Arc de Triomphe. Cameras flashed, and at once Gabriel knew he could never go back to his old life. His empire would come crashing down, and the only legacy he would have left is… this. _“Fine then, Paris knows me as only Hawk Moth now. I’ll get the Cat and the Ladybug, I’ll change all this. I’ll make everything right. For you, Emilie. For you, Adrien. I’ll never let you leave me ever again.”_ _  
_ _  
_ “Come down and turn yourself in, Gabriel!” shouted Officer Roger, through a megaphone. “This doesn’t have to end in violence! We can do this peacefully!”

“The only way this ‘ends’ is with the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous in my hands!” Hawk Moth thundered. “And then… finally, I can make my great wish!” 

“FAT CHANCE!” came a cry, Ladybug kicking him in the face before landing to the right of him. And then came the Cat, ready to back his partner up.

“...just in time,” said Hawk Moth with a dark chuckle. “Ah, I see the alley cat came to defend his Lady.”  
  
“I always knew it was you,” Ladybug said, striding up spinning her yo-yo in hand. “...you’re something else, you know that right Gabriel? A terrible human being all around, a supervillain and an even _worse_ father!”

“I do all this for my son,” said Hawk Moth, cameras watching their every move and recording everything. “You might not believe me, but I’m doing this for him.”  
  
“Yeah, you have a funny way of showing it,” snarled Cat Noir. “Your family would be so ashamed of you.”   
  
The battle was long and hard, Hawk Moth resisting their every move but eventually the heroes slowly started to come out on top.

Ladybug yanked away his cane with her yo-yo, and snapped it in half over her knee. Hawk Moth threw a punch, Ladybug sliding under him before wrapping her yo-yo around his legs. His face slammed into the stone, before he kicked her in the face.

Ladybug staggered, to the horror of the rapidly gathering crowd below and Hawk Moth retrieved the two broken pieces of his cane. Using them as swords, he thrusted forth attempting to stab the beloved heroine in the chest. Her suit would have become even more red, had her partner not acted fast.

Whipping out his baton, he used it to hold the weapon back. Ladybug leaped over his head, kicking Hawk Moth square in the face.

“...a most excellent display of teamwork,” said Hawk Moth. “I admit, I am outmatched…”

“...great, now you’re giving compliments,” Ladybug drawled. “I’m flattered, really!”  
  
“But let’s say we make the odds a little more…” Hawk Moth continued, releasing a darkly pulsing moth from his cane. An insane look was in his eye, a mad grin etching itself across his face. “EVEN!”   
  
Ladybug saw it too late, unable to stop the moth in time as a sickeningly familiar mask fell over her partner’s face. “NO!”   
  
“Chat Blanc, I'm giving you the infinite power of destruction! Together you and I will seize Ladybug's Miraculous, and awaken my wife! Obey!” Hawk Moth thundered as slowly, but surely Cat Noir’s suit began to bleach itself white.

“...Cat…” Ladybug whispered fearfully. 

Cat whispered something, too low for the cameras to catch but Hawk Moth and Ladybug certainly heard it. “...my mother would be so ashamed of you.”  
  
Hawk Moth gasped in realization, and he went into a stunned silence as Cat, no Adrien _broke_ the connection before socking him across the jaw.

The crowd roared, and only cheered harder as Ladybug, her jaw set marched up to Hawk Moth and _ripped_ the Moth Brooch off him. Gabriel’s costume faded away, exposing him to the world. “Gabriel Agreste, it is my honor as the Guardian of Paris to relieve you of your Miraculous.”

\-----

So, in the end, love won and Hawk Moth was defeated. The closest Paris ever got to seeing a suit of white was a failed Akumatization.

The brand collapsed practically overnight, something Adrien was eternally grateful for. He wouldn’t grow up rich, but honestly… after that night he wasn’t sure he wanted the money anyways. Besides, he didn’t need it.

He had everything he ever wanted right here.

As for Tom, well he couldn’t say he was actually surprised. Gabriel never really seemed wont to appear in public so him being a supervillain wasn’t that stunning. All the same, he felt for his eventual son-in-law, having to grow up with this knowledge.

He had his suspicions of course, about why Nathalie had really jumped ship but elected not to voice them. Adrien didn’t need any more shocks, and it wasn’t like she could do any more harm anyways. Both the Moth and the Peacock were now, by all accounts, safely in Ladybug’s possession.

He did wonder, at times, what might have happened had he not acted or what might have even after he did. Paris did come _awfully_ close to an Akumatized Cat Noir after all… But that was but a distant memory now. 

Looking at the two, curled up on the couch exhausted from such a long week, Tom smiled. He was proud to watch these two grow up, and live. Finally, Paris was safe, and more importantly, Adrien was as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was cackling like a true supervillain while writing Gabriel's downfall, his ever growing desperation before he did something stupid. I enjoyed that probably more than I should have, but considering how extra terrible he made himself during the episode? ...eh, he kinda had it coming. 
> 
> I feel the tragedy of Gabriel Agreste, once he was probably a good man. Possibly. We don't know what really happened, but we do know the loss of his wife broke him somehow. Nowadays, he's probably forgotten his original purpose. That being said, it in no way excuses his actions. He tried to start nuclear warfare in New York, for Pete's sake!
> 
> If I was being charitable, I'd say Tom and Sabine probably *did* try but Gabriel with all of his money and power got in their way. I did read a few fics in preperation for writing this, so their influence can be felt scattered throughout the chapter.
> 
> I had some *weird* ideas for this one, like several deviations from this one point but for simplicity's sake I decided to go with just one. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did, and I hope to be back next year with more sad kitty. For now though, au revoir!


End file.
